THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


The   Raft. 


See  pajs  196 


E  A  C  H  E  L ; 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS. 


He  that  hath  no  rule  over  his  own  spirit  is  like  a  city  that 
is  broken  down,  and  without  walls.— PROV.  xxv,  28. 


FOUR     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


fork: 

PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL   UNION,   200  MULBERRY- STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1861,  by 
CARLTON     &     PORTER, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  How  RACHEL  LEARNS  TO  PRAY 7 

II.  EACHEL  GOES  HOME 30 

III.  RACHEL'S  CAST  ARIES,  AND  WHAT  THEY  BEING    55 

IV.  THE  EMPTY  NAIL 79 

V.  THE  CITY  WITHODT  WALLS 109 

VI.  THE  CHILDBEDS  MYSTERY. 137 

VII.    HOW    THE    STRENGTH  OF   RACHEL'S  WALLS 

is  TRIED 163 

VIIL  S^M'S  PUNISHMENT. 190 

IX.  RACHEL'S  REPENTANCE < 210 

X.  CAPTAIN  LEE'S  RETURN. 240 


THE  RAFT 2 

RACHEL  AND  HER   KITTEN 99 

LOADING  THE  RAFT 160 

THE  PICNIC  ON  THE  ISLAND 182 


622641 


RACHEL; 

OB, 

THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HOW  RACHEL  LEARNS  TO  PRAY. 

RACHEL  stood  at  the  window  and 
watched  Ernest  on  the  morning  when 
he  left  the  Asylum  with  his  new  fa- 
ther, until  he  could  no  longer  be  seen. 
Then  she  stole  away  into  the  dark- 
est, stillest  corner  of  the  school-room, 
and  hid  her  face.  She  did  not  shed 
a  tear ;  she  only  put  her  hands  close- 
ly together  and  shut  her  eyes  very 
tight.  For  some  reason  the  sun-light 
was  not  pleasant,  and  the  happy 


8  RACHEL  \   OE, 

voices  of  the  children  sounded  noisily. 
No  one  noticed  her.  She  heard  Miss 
Camp  calling  the  classes  to  order,  and 
the  tramp  of  little  feet  crossing  the 
uncarpeted  floor.  Ernest's  class  in 
spelling  was  the  first  to  recite.  Ra- 
chel waited,  almost  hoping  to  hear 
the  qnick  response  of  his  voice ;  but 
no,  it  was  only  Teddy  Scott,  and  he 
missed,  which  Ernest  never  did. 

"  I  hope,"  said  Miss  Camp,  "  my 
little  scholars  will  take  a  great  deal 
of  pains  to  get  their  lessons  well,  that 
I  may  not  wish  Ernest  back  for  his 
good  example.  Which  of  you  boys 
is  going  to  take  his  place  as  leader  of 
the  class  ?" 

"  I  am  going  to  try,"  said  Christie. 

Rachel  shook  her  head  very  impa- 
tiently, and  felt  as  if  she  wanted  to 
shake  Christie  too. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.  9 

"  I  hope  you  will.  If  you  try 
Christie,  you  can  do  almost  anything ; 
but  you  must  remember  how  faith- 
fully Ernest  studied.  He  did  not 
look  on  his  book  one  moment,  and 
all  around  the  school-room  the  next." 

"  No,  but  he  drawed  ships.  I  saw 
him  lots  of  times,"  said  Christie, 
archly. 

u  He  never  did !"  said  Rachel 
sharply. 

"  Rachel,"  said  Miss  Camp,  "  that 
is  not  a  polite  »or  pleasant  way  of 
speaking.  I  am  sorry  you  should  do 
so." 

Now  Rachel  was  not  in  a  mood 
to  bear  reproof.  She  was  feeling 
very  unhappy  without  quite  know- 
ing the  reason  why,  and  so  she  said 
more  rudely  still, 

"  I  don't  care ;   I  hate  him.     He 


10  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

always  thinks  he  can  do  everything, 
and  he  aint  half  so  good  as  Ernest." 

"  Go  to  your  room,  and  stay  there 
until  you  feel  willing  to  behave  like 
a  good  girl,"  said  Miss  Camp. 

Kachel  put  her  head  down  on  the 
desk  again  and  did  not  move.  Miss 
Camp  waited  a  few  minutes.  She 
knew  Rachel's  bad  temper  so  well 
that  she  almost  dreaded  to  come  into 
contact  with  it,  and  she  knew  too 
that  this  freak  of  ill-humor  had 
come  only  from  grief  at  parting  with 
Ernest;  still,  the  outbreak  had  been 
so  rude  and  uncalled-for  that  it 
would  not  do  to  pass  it  over  un- 
noticed. The  eyes  of  all  the  other 
children  were  upon  her,  and  among 
such  an  assembly  it  was  very  neces- 
sary to  preserve  discipline.  She 
knew  too  that  Rachel's  temper 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         11 

though  hasty,  was  not  lasting.  A 
few  minutes  of  quiet  would  often 
entirely  subdue  her.  So  she  waited 
patiently,  but  did  not  go  on  with  her 
class.  The  school-room  was  very 
still;  you  could  have  heard  a  pin 
drop.  They  did  hear  Rachel  breath- 
ing heavily,  as  if  she  were  all  ready 
to  burst  into  a  loud  fit  of  weeping. 

Miss  Camp  hoped  for  that  result. 
Rachel  would  then  be  tender  and 
more  easily  reached.  But  no,  the 
very  hush  in  the  room  only  goaded 
her  on,  made  her  more  angry  and 
more  uncomfortable. 

"  Rachel !"  There  was  something 
in  Miss  Camp's  voice  which  made  the 
other  children  start,  but  Rachel  did 
not  move ;  so  the  teacher  walked 
across  the  room  and  laid  her  hand 
very  gently  on  the  dark  curls. 


12  RACHEL;  OK, 

"Poor  little  Rachel,"  she  said,  and 
the  authority  in  her  voice  had  changed 
to  great  tenderness,  "  I  am  veiy  sorry 
you  feel  so  badly.  We  shall  all  of 
us  miss  Ernest,  but  it  wont  bring  him 
back  to  be  naughty,  and  say  unkind 
things.  You  would  not  like  to  have 
him  know  you  were  disobeying  and 
grieving  me,  would  you  ?" 

The  teacher's  hand  soothed  the 
throbbing  nerves  of  the  child  even 
more  than  the  kind  words.  "  Now  I 
will  let  you  sit  here  a  few  minutes 
longer,  if  you  think  you  can  come 
like  a  good  child,  and  tell  Christie 
you  are  sorry  for  what  you  have 
said;  then  you  would  like  to  go  to 
your  room  and  ask  God  to  forgive 
you,  and  give  you  better  control  over 
your  quick  temper,  wouldn't  you  ?" 

There    was    no    answer,    but    the 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.          13 

quick  breathing  grew  calmer.  Miss 
Camp  hoped  she  had  gained  an  easy 
victory  this  time,  but  she  did  not 
like  to  leave  Rachel,  and  she  was 
wondering  what  she  could  do  when 
she  saw  Faith  making  her  way  quiet- 
ly toward  her  seat.  How  pale  she 
was !  any  little  excitement  -told  so 
quickly  on  the  delicate  child.  She 
came  noiselessly  in  to  the  desk,  and 
sat  down  by  Rachel's  side.  Then 
she  put  up  her  little  hand,  so  little 
and  wan,  beside  Miss  Camp's.  Ra- 
chel started;  she  knew  the  touch  at 
once,  but  she  had  not  heard  Faith 
come.  Pretty  soon  Faith  put  her 
cheek  down,  and  Miss  Camp  drew 
her  hand  away  and  went  back  to 
her  class.  There  was  something  in 
Faith's  earnest  face  which  told  her 
that  she  could  be  spared.  The  chil 


14  RACHEL;  OB, 

dren  all  seemed  to  understand  that 
the  matter  was  settled,  and  that  it 
was  only  now  a  question  of  time  ;  it 
would  be  right  in  the  end.  The  spell- 
ing was  resumed,  and  by  the  time  the 
lesson  was  finished,  Rachel  had  put 
her  arm  around  Faith,  and  the  part 
of  j^he  desk  upon  which  she  laid  her 
head  was  wet  with  tears. 

"Now,  Rachel,"  whispered  Faith 
softly  as  the  children  were  going  to 
their  seats,  "  there  is  Christie  coming 
right  by.  He  is  such  a  darling,  you 
wouldn't  make  him  feel  bad  for  the 
world.  Tell  him  so  when  he  comes. 
That  is  what  Christie  May  would  call 
being  generous." 

Rachel  sat  up  very  straight  and 
looked  Christie  steadily  in  the  face 
as  he  came  toward  her.  Such  a 
happy,  hearty  face,  no  one  could  look 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         15 

long  into  it  without  catching  some  of 
the  sunny  temper  that  made  it  so 
pleasant.  UA  nierry  heart  doeth. 
good  like  a  medicine."  If  Faith's 
loving  ways  had  helped  Rachel  to 
try  to  do  right  at  first,  Christie's 
smile  finished  the  work;  and  when 
he  was  near  enough  to  speak  to  him, 
she  said, 

"I  am  sorry,  Christie,  I  spoke  so 
cross  to  you." 

"O  I  don't  mind,  Eachie,  I  am 
cross  as  two  sticks  myself  sometimes, 
and  then  I  would  bite  a  board  nail 
in  two,  I  dare  say,  if  I  had  one  be- 
tween my  teeth ;"  and  Christie  snap- 
ped two  rows  of  very  white  little 
teeth,  as  if  he  were  anxious  to  make 
the  experiment,  though  he  was  laugh- 
ing all  the  time. 

Rachel  laughed  too,  so  did  Faith, 


16  RACHEL;  OK, 

and  Miss  Camp  saw  that  the  troubled 
waters  were  once  more  at  rest. 

Now  would  Eachel  go  to  her  room 
and  ask  God  to  forgive  her?  Faith 
.was  anxious  that  she  should,  and  so 
she  whispered,  with  that  peculiarly 
beautiful  expression  in  her  large  eyes 
which  God  had  given  to  her,  to  com- 
pensate in  part  for  the  many  things 
of  which  he  had  deprived  her,  "  Now 
Jesus  is  just  as  ready  as  Christie  was. 
Come,  Rachel,  then  you  can  be  all 
happy,"  and  she  slid  off  from  her 
seat  and  held  out  her  hand.  Rachel 
almost  mechanically  put  hers  in  it, 
and  suffered  herself  to  be  led  away. 
Miss  Camp  smiled  as  they  passed 
her,  and  said,  "For  thou,  Lord,  art 
good  and  ready  to  forgive,  and  plen- 
teous in  mercy  unto  all  them  that 
call  upon  thee." 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         17 

Now  when  Rachel  had  reached  her 
room  and  Faith  had  shut  the  door 
and  left  her  alone,  my  young  readers 
must  not  suppose  that  she  knelt 
down  and  repeated  a  little  prayer. 
Rachel  was  not  a  praying  child.  She 
had  been  taught  to  say  the  Lord's 
prayer  before  she  came  to  the  Asy- 
lum, and  since  then  she  had  learned 
several  other  appropriate  child's 
prayers;  but  Rachel  never  thought 
much  about  God  or  Jesus,  never  felt 
that  she  was  at  times  a  sinful  little 
child,  and  needed  forgiveness  and  a 
blessing.  She  was  so  strong  and 
well  and  full  of  life  that  she  only 
minded  what  was  passing  before  her ; 
what  she  could  see  and  hear  and 
feel.  Her  conscience  was  not  tender. 
She  never  thought  whether  a  thing 
was  right  or  wrong,  only  whether 


18  RACHEL;  OR, 

she  wished  or  did  not  wish  to  do  it, 
and  she  indulged  her  high  temper  at 
all  times  with  as  little  attempt  at 
self-control  as  if  she  were  not  capable 
of  it. 

It  was  in  vain  that  good  Aunty 
May  time  after  time  pointed  out  to 
her  how  wrong  this  was.  Not  a  day 
passed  but  in  some  way  it  was  roused 
and  made  trouble  for  herself  and  all 
around  her.  After  trying  various 
modes  of  punishment,  the  matron 
had  decided  that  there  was  none  so 
effectual  as  to  leave  her  alone.  She 
also  faithfully  tried  to  impress  upon 
her  the  need  of  asking  the  forgive- 
ness of  that  Friend,  so  much  greater 
than  any  earthly  friend,  whom  she 
had  grieved.  But  if  Rachel  had 
wished  to  pray,  she  would  not  have 
known  how,  and  this  was  a  point 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         19 

which  had  never  occurred  to  the  ma- 
tron. If  she  could  have  looked  at 
Rachel  now,  as  she  stood  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room,  with  her  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  floor  and  a  sad  expression 
on  her  face,  she  would,  notwithstand- 
ing all  her  experience  with  children, 
have  learned  a  new  lesson.  Rachel 
did  not  know,  if  she  knelt  down  and 
only  said,  "  Now  I  lay  me,"  or  "  Jesus, 
gentle  shepherd,  hear  me,"  that  it 
would  be  asking  the  great  God  to 
forgive  her  for  being  cross  and  quick 
tempered,  just  as  much  as  if  she  had 
said,  UO,  God,  please  to  forgive  me 
for  being  angry  and  having  spoken 
cross  to  Christie,  for  Christ's  sake." 
God  could  look  right  into  her  heart 
and  would  know  just  what  she 
meant  even  better  than  she  knew 
herself,  and  he  would  see  that  she 

2 


20  KACHEL;  OR, 

was  sorry  and  wanted  to  be  forgiven 
No  one  had  ever  explained  to  her 
the  nature  of  prayer,  and  that  God 
had  made  her  mind  for  it  as  much  as 
he  had  made  her  eyes  to  see  the  light, 
and  her  ears  to  hear  the  birds  sing, 
and  her  mouth  to  taste  nice  fruit. 
So  here  she  stood  to-day  looking 
down  on  the  floor  in  a  very  troubled, 
bewildered  kind  of  a  way.  Perhaps 
there  were  some  thoughts  down  at 
the  bottom  of  her  heart  which  God 
could  read,  and  which  he  accepted 
for  a  prayer.  No  one  can  tell.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  Rachel  wished  to  be 
good,  and  hoped  never,  never  to  be 
angry  again  so  long  as  she  lived.  If 
she  had  been  older  she  could  have 
reasoned  more ;  but  we  must  not  for- 
get how  young  she  was,  and  then  we 
do  not  know  that  she  had  religious 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         21 

parents.  It  does  not  seem  that  she 
had  ever  heard  her  mother  pray.  I 
am  sure  that  every  one  of  my  little 
readers  who  has  a  praying  mother  will 
know  how  to  pray  better  than  Ra- 
chel did ;  for  you  will  remember  what 
words  she  used  when  she  brought 
you  to  the  throne  of  grace  and 
pleaded  for  you,  that  some  sin  might 
be  blotted  out  from  the  great  book 
forever.  Let  me  say  to  those  chil- 
dren who  have  not  been  so  blessed, 
"When  you  want  to  pray,  do  not 
think  of  God,  with  his  angels  around 
him,  as  a  being  a  long  way  off  in 
heaven,  and  too  busy  and  too 
great  to  mind  what  a  little  child 
says.  To-day  he  is  in  the  room  with 
Rachel.  He  is  listening  to  hear  the 
least  word  she  shall  utter.  He  cares 
as  much  for  her,  poor  orphan  and 


22  RACHEL;  OR, 

pauper  child  as  she  is,  as  he  would  if 
she  were  the  single  one  in  all  his 
wide  world,  and  he  had  nothing  else 
to  do  but  save  and  bless  her.  So 
you  must  remember,  when  you  wish 
to  pray,  that  God  is  there  with  you, 
not  away  off  in  some  dim,  distant 
place  that  you  cannot  even  imagine. 
And  then  there  is  one  other  thing; 
when  you  pray  tell  him  the  truth. 
Do  not  think  that  you  can  deceive 
him.  It  is  not  prayer  if  your  lips 
use  words  .which  your  heart  does  not 
feel.  It  is  not  important  that  you 
should  have  a  set  form  of  speech,  it 
is  only  needful  that  you  should  be  in 
earnest  to  have  God  to  love  you, 
and  Jesus  take  you  in  his  arms  and 
bless  you. 

There  was  once  a  little  boy  who 
had  done  wrong.     He  was  a  gentle. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         23 

loving  child,  and  lie  was  grieved  over 
his  sin,  so  at  night,  just  before  he 
went  to  bed,  he  knelt  down  by  his 
crib,  and  folding  his  hands,  he  said, 

"O,  Jesus,  please  lub  me,  and  I 
will  try  to  be  dood  morrow-day." 
Then  feeling  that  that  was  not  quite 
enough,  he  knelt  again,  and  said, 
"  And  please  lub  my  little  gray  kitty, 
the  one  with  white  ears,  for  Christ's 
sake.  Amen." 

Those  were  true  prayers,  for  the 
boy's  heart  was  in  them.  He  loved 
his  kitten  best  of  anything  in  the 
world,  and  he  felt  that  in  some  way 
he  gave  it  to  Jesus,  and  that  to  give 
it  was  to  show  him  how  much  he 
wished  to  love  him,  and  to  be  good. 

Now  the  point  of  this  first  chapter 
is  this,  I  want  you  to  notice  it  par- 
ticularly, for  a  great  deal  of  the  in- 


24  KACHEL  ;    OR, 

terest  and  value  of  this  book  will 
depend  upon  it :  Rachel's  chief  fault 
was  an  ungoverned,  high  temper. 
She  was  handsome,  as  you  will  re- 
member, with  very  large  dark  eyes, 
and  long,  glossy  black  curls.  She 
was  bright  and  quick  at  her  lessons, 
and  had  many  smart  and  pleasant 
ways  about  her,  so  that  no  one  could 
be  long  with  her  without  loving  her. 
Her  manners,  too,  were  generally 
winning.  She  was  thoughtful  for 
others,  and  thoughtless  about  her- 
self; that  is,  she  was  not  strongly 
selfish,  never  wanted  the  best,  and 
she  was  as  contented  in  seeing  others 
happy  as  in  being  happy  herself. 
But  with  all  these  charming  things 
everybody  had  some  fear  of  her. 
No  one  in  the  Asylum  was  long  with 
her  without  watching  her  moods, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  "WALLS.        25 

and  being  very  careful  not  to  do 
anything  to  offend  her.  This  was 
because  she  became  so  quickly  and 
so  fearfully  angry.  Sometimes  it  was 
one  thing  which  annoyed  her,  some- 
times it  was  another,  but  scarcely  a 
day  passed  during  which  she  did  not 
give  way  to  her  temper.  This  was  a 
very  bad  and  troublesome  trait,  one 
which  caused  Aunty  May  much  an- 
noyance, and  over  which,  so  far,  she 
had  been  able  to  exercise  very  little 
control.  The  only  one  in  the  Asy- 
lum, now  that  Ernest  was  gone,  who 
would  be  likely  to  help  her  was 
Faith,  and  she  was  never  present  at 
one  of  Rachel's  outbreaks  without 
suffering  from  it  afterward  in  nerv- 
ous debility  or  renewed  attacks  of 
pain. 
When  Aunty  May  found  that  weeks 


26  RACHEL  ;    OK, 

and  months  passed  on  without  any 
obvious  change  for  the  better  in 
Rachel  in  this  respect,  she  began  to 
fall  back  upon  what  was  always  her 
last  as  well  as  her  first  resort :  prayer. 
She  prayed,  and  used  every  means 
her  experience  and  observation  could 
suggest;  and  when  she  found  the 
means  only  seemed  to  make  matters 
worse,  she  trusted  only  to  prayer. 
How  great  and  sufficient  an  aid  it  is 
even  in  our  direst  needs.  The  strug- 
gle which  Rachel  had,  both  before 
and  after  she  learned  how  to  pray, 
will  be  shown  in  a  few  words  in 
the  following  pages.  God  will  help 
those  who  ask  him  in  a  simple, 
childlike,  earnest,  truthful  way. 
Every  one  of  these  words  are  import- 
ant in  their  meaning.  Ponder  them 
well,  young  reader,  and  at  the  same 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         27 

time  ask  God  to  explain  and  impress 
them  upon  your  hearts. 

Rachel  remained  where  she  was 
until  she  had  prayed  and  had  been 
heard,  as  we  will  hope.  When 
Aunty  May  came  to  bring  her  down 
to  the  school-room,  she  found  there  a 
gentle  child,  with  a  softened  look  in 
her  eyes,  and  she  felt  sorry  for  her 
as  she  saw  the  almost  discouraged 
expression  with  which  she  received 
the  few  words  of  tender  reproof  that 
she  felt  it  her  duty  to  give. 

"Dear  Rachel,"  she  said,  "it  is 
very  hard,  I  know  it  is,  but  God  will 
help  you." 

Faith  was  waiting  for  her  near  the 
door.  Miss  Camp  had  just  called  out 
the  geography  class,  a  study  of  which 
Rachel  was  very  fond,  and  in  study- 
ing which  she  often  helped  both 


28  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

Faith  and  Christie.  This  lesson  had 
been  very  interesting ;  so  many  odd 
places  to  find,  and  all  on  the  bright- 
colored  maps.  These  three  children 
learned  it  well,  and  Miss  Camp 
praised  them  warmly,  so  warmly, 
that  Rachel's  heart,  which  had  felt 
so  heavy  and  sad,  began  to  be  lighter 
and  happier;  and  when  she  went 
back  to  her  seat,  no  one  would  have 
recognized  her  as  the  same  child  who 
had  so  recently  wet  the  lid  of  the 
desk  with  her  angry  tears.  Christie 
had  unconsciously  taken  Ernest's  va- 
cant seat ;  he  even  had  his  slate  and 
pencil  in  his  hand,  and  now  he  was 
marking  over  a  half-rubbed-out  ship 
which  Ernest  had  drawn  the  day 
before.  Rachel  watched  him  eager- 
ly. How  many  ships  Ernest  had 
drawn  for  her,  how  many  times  he 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         29 

had  given  her  his  slate  and  pencil, 
and  laughed  at  her  awkward  at- 
tempts to  imitate  him.  Where  was 
he  now?  Would  he  never  come 
back  again  ?  Would  that  great  man 
with  the  black  hat  be  kind  to  him  ? 
Would  he  miss  her,  and  want  to  see 
her  as  much  as  she  did  him  ?  Who 
was  Ally  ?  A  little  new  sister  ?  Ra- 
chel sat  and  silently  thought  over 
these  things,  while  Christie  drew  his 
ship.  Faith  played  with  her  great  rag 
doll,  and  the  other  children,  freed 
from  the  restraints  of  school,  frolick- 
ed around  the  room,  as  happy  and 
full  of  life  and  joy,  as  if  they  were  in 
their  own  homes,  and  not  members 
of  only  a  charity  Orphan  Asylum ;  but 
they  were  Christ's  dear  lambs  even 
here. 


30  RACHEL  ;    OE, 


CHAPTER  II. 

RACHEL    GOES    HOME. 

MRS.  TLLTON'S  interest  in  the  Or 
phan  Asylum  had  been  very  much 
freshened  since  she  had  placed  Ra- 
chel there.  She  now  went  to  visit  it 
every  week,  and  the  child  became 
constantly  nearer  and  dearer  to  her. 
She  was  pleased  with  her  progress  in 
almost  every  particular.  Her  lessons 
were  always  well  reported,  she  had 
learned  to  sew  neatly,  and  her  little 
habits,  many  of  which  had  become 
careless  from  neglect,  were  fast  be- 
coming ladylike.  The  matron  made 
no  secret  to  Mrs.  Tilton  of  the  tem- 
per which  gave  her  so  much  trouble. 
She  frequently  went  to  her  for  ad- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         31 

vice,  and  Mrs.  Tilton  was  both  sur- 
prised and  grieved  at  the  frequency 
and  violence  of  its  appearance.  So 
far,  however,  in  her  intercourse  with 
Rachel  she  had  not  attempted  to  use 
any  direct  influence  over  her  for  the 
purpose  of  preventing  it.  She  knew 
that  with  so  young  a  child  it  would 
do  very  little  good  to  reason  or  to 
exact  from  her  a  promise  of  care- 
fulness for  the  future.  Rachel's  tem- 
per was  born  in  her.  It  was  as  nat- 
ural as  her  propensity  to  eat  or 
drink,  to  laugh  or  cry,  to  be  pleased 
or  sorry,  and  she  was  scarcely  able 
to  check  it ;  but  it  was  necessary 
that  she  should  be  taught  to  over- 
come it  She  must  learn  the  way  to 
ask  help  from  God,  as  well  as  to  read, 
to  sew,  to  study,  or  any  other  of  the 
many  things  children  have  to  learn. 


32  KACHEL  ;    OK, 

Mrs.  Tilton  thought  it  would  be  use- 
less to  rebuke  Rachel  in  her  happy 
moments  for  a  fault  committed  in  the 
past,  and  it  strangely  happened  that 
often  as  she  saw  Rachel,  and  fre- 
quent as  the  bursts  of  childish  tem- 
per were,  she  had  never  witnessed 
one  of  them. 

It  was  singular  how,  from  the  very 
first  moment  of  her  being  released 
from  the  police  officer,  Rachel  had 
clung  to  Mrs.  Tilton.  She  always 
came  down  into  the  parlor  (no 
longer,  thanks  to  her  benefactress,  so 
desolate  as  it  was  on  the  morning 
when  she  was  first  brought  there,) 
with  such  a  happy  face,  that  its 
memory  staid  with  the  kind  lady 
long  afterward.  To  sit  close  by  her 
side,  with  both  of  her  little  hands 
clasping  tight  the  gloved  one  that 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         33 

was  always  ready  for  her ;  to  fix  her 
eyes  on  Mrs.  Tilton's  face  with  such 
a  longing,  loving  look ;  seemed  to 
make  her  perfectly  happy.  Mrs. 
Tilton  almost  always  brought  her  a 
little  present,  but  while  she  remained 
that  was  of  small  value  to  Rachel. 
It  would  drop  upon  the  floor,  be 
thrown  carelessly  upon  a  chair,  in- 
deed, be  quite  forgotten  until  the 
giver  was  gone.  Then  she  rarely 
parted  with  it  for  a  moment,  until  at 
night  sleep  had  made  both  the  gift 
and  the  visit  seem  like  things  of  the 
past. 

This  was  unusual  in  such  a  child. 
Aunty  May  wondered  over  it,  and 
Mrs.  Tilton  could  not  forget  it,  even 
after  leaving  the  asylum.  It  did  not 
occur  to  any  of  them  then  that  this 
was  one  way  in  which  God  was  keep- 


34  KACHEL;  OR, 

ing  his  promise  of  remembering  the 
fatherless ;  but  it  certainly  was. 

Soon  after  Ernest  left  for  his  home 
on  Nelson's  Island,  Aunty  May  began 
to  find  the  care  of  Rachel,  without 
his  controlling  influence,  too  much  for 
her,  and  she  felt  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  find  a  home  for  her  also 
as  soon  as  possible.  Not  a  day  passed 
now  but  there  was  trouble  somewhere. 
One  day  Rachel  pushed  a  boy  down 
stairs,  hurting  him  quite  severely, 
because  he  had  knocked  carelessly 
against  Faith  as  she  was  coming 
slowly  and  painfully  up.  At  an- 
other time  she  struck  Janet  Dodge 
in  her  mouth,  causing  swollen  lips 
and  bleeding  teeth.  Teddy  Jones 
was  hurled  against  the  hot  stove  for 
taking  Ernest's  slate  away  from 
Christie.  In  short,  if  either  Miss 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         35 

Camp  or  Aunty  May  heard  a  sud- 
den cry  of  pain  or  fear,  they  never 
doubted  that  it  was  caused  by  Ra- 
chel. One  of  the  most  trying  things 
of  all  was,  that  Rachel  was  seldom 
made  angry  by  any  indignity  or  in- 
jury offered  to  herself;  it  was  al- 
ways for  something  done  to  some  one 
she  loved,  so  it  was  very  difficult  to 
know  just  how  to  blame  her.  But 
the  constant  care  and  anxiety  which 
she  occasioned  were  very  severe  upon 
those  who  had  the  charge  of  her; 
besides,  the  discipline  of  the  whole 
Asylum  was  injured.  Children  who 
were  hasty,  but  much  better  able  to 
control  themselves  than  poor  Rachel, 
made  less  attempt  to  do  so.  They 
took  advantage  of  the  leniency  which 
Aunty  May  was  in  a  measure  obliged 
to  show  to  her ;  and  so,  before  Rachel 


36  RACHEL;  OR, 

had  been  in  the  Asylum  three  months, 
it  became  a  different  place  from  what 
it  was  when  she  entered.  Lest  my 
readers  may  not  observe  the  truth 
which  this  fact  so  clearly  shows  I 
will  stop  here  and  point  it  out. 
Don't  you  see  how  that  fault  of 
yours,  for  which  your  parents  have 
reproved  you  so  often,  does  not  affect 
you  alone  ?  Every  one  of  your  fam- 
ily suffers  with  you,  and  not  only  your 
own  family,  but  the  school  of  which 
you  are  a  member,  and  through  the 
school,  the  whole  neighborhood  in 
which  you  live.  O,  child,  you  are 
small  and  young,  but  you  are  of 
great  importance,  and  can  do  for 
good  or  for  ill  as  much  as  many  a 
grown  person.  Remember  this  when 
you  carelessly  do  not  take  any  pains 
to  correct  a  fault.  You  must  not 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.         37 

only  suffer  and  be  punished  for  it 
yourself,  but  you  make  others  suffer 
also.  Does  that  seem  generous  or 
kind-hearted  in  you  ? 

During  one  of  Mrs.  Tilton's  visits, 
before  Rachel  was  called  in,  Aunty 
May  discussed  the  subject  of  a  new 
home  with  her.  She  felt  that  in  a 
very  eminent  degree  the  influence 
under  which  Rachel  might  fall  would 
form  her  character,  and  that  there- 
fore it  would  be  necessary  to  exercise 
extreme  caution  in  its  selection.  The 
uncommon  beauty  of  the  child  had 
already  attracted  much  attention 
from  the  visitors  of  the  Asylum,  and 
several  had  wished  to  adopt  her;  but 
Aunty  May  had  always  answered, 
"  that  she  was  not  ready  to  part  with 
the  child."  Indeed,  while  she  felt 
that  the  good  of  all  required  that 


38  RACHEL;  OR, 

she  should  leave,  her  future  seemed 
very  hopeless;  so  she  could  only 
commend  her  to  her  kind  Father  in 
heaven,  and  trust  her  to  him.  Aunty 
May  often  said  that  she  never  prayed 
so  much  for  any  other  of  the  hund- 
reds of  children  who  had  been  under 
her  care  as  she  did  for  Rachel,  and 
she  never  felt  more  sure  that  God 
had  heard  and  answered. 

Mrs.  Tilton  also  had  been  feeling 
for  some  time  that  the  Asylum  was 
no  place  for  such  a  child  as  Rachel. 
She  needed  more  care,  a  stronger  and 
more  immediate  personal  discipline 
than  she  could  find  as  one  among  so 
many ;  but  what  could  be  done  with 
her  ?  Mrs.  Tilton  had  numerous 
persons  dependent  upon  her  charity, 
but  there  was  not  one  among  them 
all  who  seemed  so  peculiarly  her 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.          39 

charge  as  Rachel  had  from  the  mo- 
ment she  stopped  her  carriage  oppo- 
site the  frightened,  screaming  child 
on  the  sidewalk  until  the  present; 
and  this  new  home,  therefore,  she 
determined  to  find  ;  but  where  ? 
There  was  no  one  among  the  circle 
of  her  friends  who  would  be  likely 
to  adopt  the  child  of  unknown  par- 
ents, picked  up  in  the  street,  and 
carried  to  an  Orphan  Asylum,  and  it 
would  be  equally  difficult  to  find  any 
one  fitted  for  the  trust.  It  was 
weeks  before  it  ever  occurred  to  her 
that  perhaps  God  was  calling  her  to 
that  task,  and  even  then  it  did  not 
immediately  assume  the  form  of  im- 
perative duty. 

It  need  hardly  now  be  told  the 
reader  that  Mrs.  Tilton  belonged  to 
that  large  class  of  wealthy  people  to 


40  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

whom  God  has  not  only  given  the 
means,  but  also  the  will  and  the 
power  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good. 
She  had  generally  found  enough  to 
occupy  her  outside  of  her  own  home ; 
this  she  had  held  sacred  to  its  own  en- 
joyments and  memories.  She  was  a 
lady  of  much  cultivation,  moving  in 
the  midst  of  a  large  and  influential 
literary  circle,  with  her  time  and 
thoughts  so  fully  occupied  that  it 
seemed  to  those  looking  on  impossi- 
ble to  find  room  for  anything  more. 
But  Mrs.  Tilton  was  more  than 
wealthy  and  benevolent.  She  was  a 
warm-hearted,  sincere,  active  Chris- 
tian, feeling  that  her  time,  her 
money,  and  her  health  were  given 
to  her  to  use,  first  of  all,  in  her 
Master's  service.  The  world  knew 
her  for  a  large-hearted,  benevo- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         41 

lent  lady;  God  knew  her  for  an 
humble,  faithful  worker  in  his  vine- 
yard. 

Some  years  previous  to  the  period 
of  which  we  are  speaking  she  had 
lost,  within  a  few  months  of  each 
other,  her  two  children ;  but  she  had 
not  for  this  reason  allowed  herself  to 
feel  that  the  only  duty  which  re- 
mained to  her  in  life  was  to  suffer 
passively.  She  knew  they  were  safe 
"  in  the  garden  of  her  Lord,"  and  if 
she  meekly  bore  her  cross,  she  should 
one  day  find  them  waiting  for  her 
there.  But  their  memories  were  very 
precious  to  her,  and  she  had  never 
felt  inclined  to  take  others  in  their 
stead.  The  first  thought  of  adopting 
Rachel  was,  therefore,  one  of  great 
pain.  She  could  not  hear  the  dear 
word  "mother"  spoken  by  other 


42  RACHEL  ;    O*R, 

lips  than  those  now  so  still  and  cold, 
and  yet  she  would  not  wrong  one  of 
Jesus's  little  ones  by  taking  it  to  a 
home  from  which  she  withheld  the 
heart.  But  with  every  sight  of  Ra- 
chel, since  it  was  determined  that 
she  must  leave  the  Asylum,  came  the 
thought,  pressing  closer  and  closer 
upon  her  conscience,  of  her  own 
ability  and  duty  to  do  what  there 
seemed  no  one  else  so  well  qualified 
to  attempt. 

Her  husband  at  first  met  the  prop- 
osition with  a  decided  refusal.  She 
had  already  as  much  care  as  her 
health  would  allow;  the  child  could 
be  sent  to  some  pleasant  country 
home,  and,  if  necessary,  he  would 
put  aside  every  year  a  certain  sum 
for  her  support ;  but  he  had  no  fancy 
for  such  a  new  element  in  his  family ; 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.          43 

indeed,  it  was  not  to  be  thought  of 
for  a  moment. 

But  Mrs.  Tilton  knew  that  this  was 
out  of  consideration  for  herself  more 
than  from  any  other  motive,  as  he  was 
very  fond  of  children,  and  had  not 
struggled  back  into  life  from  the 
graves  of  his  own  lost  ones  with  half 
her  quiet  resignation.  And  as  she 
every  day  became  more  and  more 
convinced  that  she  ought  to  take 
Rachel,  she  at  last  won  from  him  a 
reluctant  consent  to  make  the  trial. 
He  had  never  seen  her,  but  had  al- 
ways been  interested  in  what  Mrs. 
Tilton  had  told  him  of  her.  It  must 
be  acknowledged  now,  however,  that 
he  shrank  very  much  from  the  under- 
taking, and  would  gladly  have  paid 
a  large  sum  to  any  one  to  relieve 
them  from  the  seeming  duty. 


44  EACHEL  ;    OR, 

The  struggle  through  which  Mrs. 
Tilton  had  passed  had  not  been  made 
known  to  any  one  but  her  husband. 
It  was,  therefore,  no  wonder  that 
Aunty  May  thought  God  had  direct- 
ly answered  her  prayer  when  she 
said  to  her  that  she,  herself,  had 
resolved  to  adopt  Rachel. 

No  one  could  see  the  tears  that 
would  rush  into  Aunty  May's  eyes 
and  roll  down  her  cheeks,  and  hear 
how  fervently  she  said,  "May  the 
orphan's  God  bless  you,  dear  lady," 
without  being  convinced  that  this 
good  matron  was  well  adapted  to 
her  place,  and  that  she  truly  loved 
those  who  were .  intrusted  to  her 
care. 

There  was  not  a  day  to  be  lost.  If 
Rachel  was  to  come,  the  sooner  the 
better ;  so  that  very  morning  she 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         45 

bade  good-by  to  the  children  and  to 
the  matron,  and  with  great,  wonder- 
ing eyes  took  her  seat  as  the  rich  la- 
dy's child  in  her  elegant  carriage. 

Faith  threw  both  her  puny  arms 
around  her  neck,  and  sobbed  aloud. 
How  could  she  part  with  her !  She 
had  always  been  good  and  kind  to  her ; 
never  angry  with  her,  never  forgetful 
of  her.  Must  everybody  whom  she 
loved  go  away  ?  Had  God  no  little 
sick  Faith  in  his  world ;  only  the  well, 
handsome  children  that  he  could  care 
for?  Was  she  always,  always  to  be 
left,  and  always  to  have  such  a  dull, 
aching  heart  and  body  ?  Faith  did 
not  ask  herself  all  these  questions  as 
she  hung  around  Rachel's  neck ;  but 
she  sobbed,  and  wished  it  was  night 
and  dark,  so  that  she  could  be  alone 
and  still,  and  then  somehow  go  away 


46  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

out  of  life,  and  not  be  here  any  more. 
But  that  night,  when  it  grew  dark 
and  cold,  and  there  was  no  Rachel  to 
pull  the  small  wadded  sack  up  over 
her  aching  shoulders,  or  make  Janet 
give  up  the  easy  chair,  which  Mrs. 
Tilton  had  bought  to  rest  her  spine, 
then  she  thought  all  these  other 
things ;  and  she  could  not  answer 
them,  neither  could^  she  tell  them  to 
Aunty  May.  She  could  have  told 
them  to  her  mother,  but,  alas !  to  no 
one  else. 

Christie  was  half  glad  and  half 
sorry  to  have  Rachel  go.  He  loved 
her  when  she  was  quiet  and  pleasant, 
but  he  had  too  many  memories  of 
knocks  and  pinches  from  her  when 
she  was  angry  to  really  care  for  her. 
He  thought  several  of  the  other  girls 
were  much  better,  and  they  made  him 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         4 

happier ;  so  lie  said  good-by  quite  in- 
differently, and  climbed  up  on  the 
window-sill  to  watch  the  handsome 
horses,  as  he  always  did  when  he 
knew  Mrs.  Tilton's  carriage  was  at  the 
door.  John,  the  coachman,  had  learn- 
ed to  know  his  chubby,  pleasant  face, 
and  always  looked  for  it ;  indeed,  here 
began  an  acquaintance  which  ripened 
into  a  warm  affection  in  after  life. 

Rachel  was  silent  as  they  drove 
through  the  noisy  streets;  perhaps 
she  remembered  her  other  ride  there, 
and  was  thinking  of  the  life  from 
which  she  had  then  been  rescued ;  per- 
haps she  was  wondering  about  the 
new  home  to  which  she  was  going. 
Mrs.  Tilton  thought,  as  she  watched 
her,  that  she  would  like  to  know  of 
what  she  was  thinking,  but  she  did 
not  speak  to  her  until  the  carriage 


48  EACIIEL  ;  OR, 

stopped  before  her  own  door.  So 
far  she  had  not  said  to  Rachel  that 
she  intended  to  take  her  for  her  own. 
She  felt  that  her  husband  must  be 
the  one,  in  the  end,  to  decide  the 
question,  and  if  he  should  dislike  the 
child,  it  would  be  wrong  for  her  to 
insist  on  her  remaining,  so  she  had 
told  her  she  was  to  go  home  with 
her,  without  entering  into  particulars, 
nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  Rachel 
attached  any  special  meaning  to  the 
plan. 

There  was  still  another  important 
member  of  Mrs.  Tilton's  family  whom, 
for  many  reasons,  it  was  very  desira- 
ble to  please  in  the  matter  of  adopt- 
ing Rachel.  This  was  an  old  serv- 
ant, Nancy  Pratt.  Nancy  had  been 
in  the  family  of  Mrs.  Tilton's  mother 
for  many  years  before  coming  into 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.          49 

hers,  and  had  been  a  kind  of  mother 
to  her  all  her  life.  She  was  a  woman 
of  very  decided  character,  and  not 
always  easy  to  please.  She  was  neat 
to  a  fault,  careful'and  painstaking,  and 
very  easily  put  out  of  humor  by  any- 
thing which  interfered  with  order  and 
propriety.  She  had  a  cross  way  of 
speaking,  too,  which  irritated  those 
who  did  not  know  her ;  in  short,  with 
a  great  many  good  and  noble  traits, 
Nancy  was  not  one  of  those  persons 
who  would  be  chosen  to  live  with  if 
it  could  be  helped.  She  was  fond  of 
children  and,  in  her  way,  indulgent 
to  them  ;  but  it  was  only  when  they 
did  not  by  deed  or  look  cross  or  an- 
noy her.  If  they  succeeded  in  get- 
ting on  her  right  side — and  very  dis- 
tinct the  sides  were — they  might 
be  comfortable  and  happy,  but  if 


50  RACHEL;  OR, 

they  were  on  the  wrong  side,  there 
would  be  no  rest  for  them  in  her 
presence. 

Mrs.  Til  ton  had  no  trouble  with 
her,  and  she  found  her  extremely  use- 
ful. She  had  so  much  good  sense 
and  shrewdness,  that  she  could  be 
trusted  almost  anywhere  to  do  what 
was  to  be  done,  though  it  was  not  al- 
ways accomplished  to  the  satisfaction 
or  happiness  of  all  concerned. 

She  had  always  been  interested  in 
Rachel;  she  had  made  many  of  the 
clothes  which  Mrs.  Tilton  had  pre- 
pared for  her,  and  had,  perhaps,  been 
consulted  more  than  any  one  else,  be- 
sides Mr.  Tilton,  as  to  receiving  her 
into  the  family.  Much  to  Mrs.  Til- 
ton's  surprise  she  said  that  she  con- 
sidered it  her  "  bounden  duty ;"  and 
when  a  thing  was  a  bounden  duty, 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.          51 

why,  the  Lord  meant  that  it  should 
take  place,  and  that  was  just  the  reason 
why  he  had  laid  it  on  her.  If  he  saw 
fit  to  take  their  own  precious  lambs 
from  them,  that  was  not  any  reason 
why  the  good  fold  should  be  deso- 
late. For  her  part,  she  would  rather 
hear  a  child's  voice  around  the  house 
and  little  pattering  feet  going  up  and 
down,  than  any  of  your  grand  pian- 
nies,  she  did  not  care  who  played 
them.  And  this  was  the  way  Nancy 
Pratt  felt  in  the  morning  when  Ra- 
chel was  brought  home. 

She  was  peeping  through  the  win- 
dow-blind of  the  room  which  used  to 
be  the  nursery  when  the  carriage 
stopped.  Many  tears  and  heart-aches 
it  cost  both  Mrs.  Tilton  and  Nancy 
to  open  this  desolated  room  again, 
but,  firm  in  her  resolve  not  to  shrink 


52  RACHEL  ;    OB, 

from  anything  which  promised  the 
good  of  the  child,  Mrs.  Til  ton  had 
not  hesitated.  She  knew  that  one  of 
the  first  things  requisite  for  the  hap- 
piness of  children,  is  a  place  peculiar- 
ly their  own,  where  they  can  be  free 
to  move  and  act  as  they  please,  and 
in  a  house  as  handsomely  furnished 
and  nicely  kept  as  her  own  this  was 
specially  desirable.  Nancy  had  taken 
out  some  of  May's  toys;  they  had 
been  put  away  so  sacredly  since  the 
dear  child  last  played  with  them, 
that  they  looked  almost  new  to  her 
now.  New,  and  yet  how  many  old, 
old  thoughts  clustered  around  them. 
May  had  been  an  angel  five  long 
years,  it  almost  seemed  to  Nancy  as 
if  she  had  gone  when  she,  too,  was  a 
child,  and  that  somehow  when  she 
saw  her  once  more  she  should  be  a 


THE  CITY.  WITHOUT  WALLS.         53 

child  again,  and  they  should  play  to- 
gether. John  lifted  Rachel  out  in 
his  arms,  and  put  her  tenderly  down 
upon  the  steps.  Rachel  raised  her 
eyes  to  look  at  the  house  and  met 
those  of  Nancy  looking  down  upon 
her. 

"  Brown  as  a  chestnut,"  said  Nan- 
cy aloud  to  herself ;  "  no  more  like 
our  May  than  nothing,  but  it's  all 
the  better  for  that.  The  poor,  dear, 
motherless  little  thing  that  she  is,  and 
such  a  beauty  too  !" 

Rachel  had  never  been  within  such 
a  house  before,  but  her  hand  was  now 
in  Mrs.  Tilton's,  and  she  would  have 
followed  her  anywhere.  Now  she 
goes  through  the  long  entry,  up,  up, 
the  soft,  flower-carpeted  stairs,  see- 
ing everything  and  trembling  a  little, 
just  a  little,  at  so  much  new  beauty ; 


54  EACHEL  ;    OR, 

and  then  Mrs.  Tilton  opens  the  door, 
and  says  to  Nancy,  who  had  been  list- 
ening as  they  came,  "Nancy,  this  is 
our  little  Rachel." 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         55 


CHAPTER  III. 

RACHEL'S  CANARIES,  AND  WHAT  THEY 
BRING. 

RACHEL  had  never  heard  of  fairy 
palaces,  as  I  presume  most  of  my 
readers  have ;  but  if  she  had,  she 
would  certainly  have  thought  she 
was  dropped  down  into  one  now. 
Such  a  contrast  as  this  nursery  was 
to  the  bare,  though  cheerful  school- 
room at  the  Asylum  !  Mrs.  Tilton 
had  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  to 
make  it  tasteful  and  cheerful  for  her 
own  children,  and  it  was  none  the 
less  so  for  the  new-found  child  of  to- 
day. A  pretty  paper,  gay  with 
bright  flowers,  covered  the  walls,  and 
other  flowers  smiled  up  to  her  from 
the  carpet  under  her  feet.  It  seemed 


56  EACHEL;  OK, 

to  the  dazzled  and  bewildered  child 
that  it  was  flowers  everywhere,  for  on 
the  mantle-piece  Nancy  had  arranged 
pretty  vases  filled  from  the  conserva- 
tory, and  in  the  window  two  pots  held 
large  blossoming  shrubs.  Nancy  her- 
self, so  neat  and  prim,  so  homely,  and 
yet  looking  so  kindly,  came  to  meet 
her  with  outstretched  arms,  and  the 
first  thing  Rachel  heard  her  say  was : 

"God  be  thanked  for  giving  this 
lonely  old  heart  a  young  child  to 
love  again  !" 

Rachel  did  not  understand  her; 
she  only  knew  that  she  kissed  her  sev- 
eral times,  and  that  for  some  reason 
she  put  her  own  arms  round  Nancy's 
neck  as  she  never  had  dared  to  do 
around  Mrs.  Tilton's,  and  laid  her  lit- 
tle round  cheek  down  on  the  withered, 
tear-stained  one  of  the  old  woman, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         57 

and  could  not  look  away  from  the 
love  that  shone  out  of  her  eyes,  even 
to  the  beautiful  flowers  which  were 
all  around  her. 

Mrs.  Tilton  drew  a  long  breath  of 
relief.  So  far  all  was  well:  Nancy 
had  certainly  taken  a  fancy  to  the 
child.  Now  if  Rachel,  like  May, 
was  only  one  of  the  gentle  ones  :  but 
she  was  not,  and  Nancy's  own  temper 
had  not  improved  from  age.  Still, 
as  it  would  do  no  good  to  borrow 
trouble,  Mrs.  Tilton  determined  to  be 
satisfied  with  what  was  hopeful  in  to- 
day, and  to  leave  to-morrow  in  the 
hands  of  Him  who  careth  for  us. 
One  would  have  thought,  to  see  Ra- 
chel and  Nancy  together  now,  that 
Rachel  was  a  long  absent  /one  re- 
turned, rather  than  an  orphan  child 
brought  to  a  new  home. 


58  RACHEL;  OR, 

Clothes  which  were  suitable  for  the 
change  in  the  circumstances  of  her 
life  had  been  prepared  for  Rachel, 
and  Nancy's  first  act  of  care  was  to 
dress  her  neatly  in  them.  If  she  had 
thought  her  pretty  before,  her  admi- 
ration now  was  but  ill  disguised,  and 
it  was  difficult  for  even  Mrs.  Tilton  to 
restrain  showing  how  pleased  and 
surprised  she  was  at  the  change  which 
the  dress  wrought.  If  Mr.  Tilton 
also  would  be  pleased  with  the  ap- 
pearance and  manners  of  the  child, 
she  felt  as  if  the  most  difficult  part  of 
the  adoption  was  passed. 

Rachel  was  to  dine  to-day  in  the 
nursery  with  Nancy.  Mrs.  Tilton 
was  very  particular  about  the  table 
manners  of  a  child,  and  she  very  well 
knew  Rachel  would  need  much  in- 
struction. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         59 

Mr.  Tilton's  first  inquiry  on  his 
return  was  if  Rachel  had  been 
brought,  and  when  he  was  told  that 
she  was  in  the  nursery,  he  went  di- 
rectly there  to  see  her. 

Mrs.  Tilton  heard  him  ascending 
the  stairs,  and  knew  the  anxiety 
which  prompted  him.  Nancy,  too, 
heard  him  coming,  and  all  the  nice 
lesson  which  she  had  intended  to 
give  Rachel  in  order  to  prepare  her 
for  the  meeting  were  lost;  but  she 
said,  "  There  is  Mr.  Tilton ;  now,  Ra- 
chel, you  must  behave  like  a  little 
lady;"  and  like  a  little  lady  surely 
Rachel  did  behave.  She  went  to 
him  the  moment  he  called  her,  and 
though  she  looked  very  searchingly 
in  his  face,  as  she  had  in  that  of  the 
others,  still  she  answered  his  questions 
promptly  and  so  modestly  that  Mr. 


60  RACHEL;  OR, 

Tilton  was  well  pleased.  He  talked 
with  her  a  few  minutes,  then  stopped 
at  his  wife's  door  as  he  went  down. 

"  Well  ?"  she  said,  looking  up  anx- 
iously. 

"  I  like  the  child ;  she  has  mind 
and  beauty.  The  latter  is  of  no  value 
without  the  other,  but  both  together 
are  rare." 

"I  am  very  glad  that  she  pleases 
you." 

"  So  am  I.  We  will  do  our  best  to 
give  the  orphan  a  good  home." 

And  so  Rachel  was  adopted. 

The  change  in  the  child's  life  for  a 
time  acted  very  favorably,  so  far  as 
any  exhibition  of  her  temper  was 
concerned.  Away  from  all  other 
children,  she  had  now  no  occasion  for 
being  angry;  there  was  nothing  to 
try  or  annoy  her.  Mrs.  Tilton  was 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.          61 

decided,  but  so  gentle  in  what  she 
required  that  it  was  pleasant  to 
obey  her,  and  as  for  Nancy,  the  only 
danger  so  far  was  from  her  unlim- 
ited indulgence  of  all  the  child's 
wishes. 

Feeling  desirous  that  Each  el  should 
be  well  grounded  in  all  the  rudiments 
of  learning,  Mrs.  Tilton  spent  an  hour 
every  morning  in  her  instruction,  and 
Nancy  taught  her  the  use  of  her 
needle  in  the  very  nice,  old-time  way 
of  sewing.  Rachel  was  quick,  and 
willing  to  learn,  and  by  the  time  she 
had  been  a  month  in  the  house  Mrs. 
Tilton  wondered  she  ever  could  have 
hesitated  to  adopt  so  good  and  so  un- 
common a  child. 

Mrs.  Tilton  brought  her  home  a 
great  many  presents,  and  among  them 
were  two  canaries.  One  of  them  was 


62  EACHEL;  OK, 

called  Dick.  He  had  golden  wings, 
with  just  a  tiny  white  spot  on  his 
breast.  The  other  was  Nellie.  She 
had  some  pretty  brown  feathers  on 
the  tips  of  her  wings,  and  a  brown  tail. 
They  were  in  a  white  and  blue  cage, 
and  when  Nancy  hung  it  in  the  win- 
dow, and  Dick  began  to  sing,  Rachel 
was  a  very  happy  child.  She  could 
not  learn  her  spelling,  she  could  not 
even  sew,  though  Nancy,  seeing  how 
full  she  was  of  her  treasures,  thought- 
fully changed  the  hour's  occupation. 
Rachel  could  do  nothing  but  stand  up 
in  a  chair,  close  to  the  cage,  and  watch 
the  little  things  while  they  jumped 
from  their  perch  to  the  floor  of  the 
cage,  picking  a  seed  out  from  the 
well-filled  glass,  eating  it  so  daintily, 
and  then  dipping  their  round  heads 
into  the  clear  water  and  lifting  them 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.  63 

up  again  with  such  a  happy,  satisfied 
look  in  their  brown  eyes. 

If  Nancy  had  realized  that  Rachel 
had  never  before  seen  a  canary 
or  any  other  kind  of  a  bird  nearer 
than  upon  the  limbs  of  the  trees 
on  the  common,  she  would  have 
been  even  more  considerate  than  she 
was,  and  would  have  taken  away  all 
tasks  for  this  morning ;  but  this 
never  occurred  to  her.  May  had 
owned  birds;  they  had  swung  from 
that  very  nail  in  the  window  all 
her  short  life,  and  Nancy  thought 
they  were  as  much  a  part  of  a  little 
girl's  happiness  as  her  doll.  So  now, 
after  having  spoken  kindly  several 
times  to  Rachel  to  induce  her  to  go 
back  to  her  sewing,  she  said  at  last 
sharply, 

"Let    them    birds   alone,    Rachel 


64  EACHEL  ;    OR, 

Tilton,  and  go  back  to  your  patch- 
work." 

Not  an  inch  did  Eachel  move 
She  never  even  took  her  eyes  from 
the  cage  ;  and  Nancy,  after  watching 
her  for  a  moment,  with  an  ominous 
frown  gathering  between  her  eye- 
brows, said  again, 

"  Don't  you  hear  me  ?  Let  them 
alone ;  you  wont  have  a  walk  with 
me  on  the  common  one  step  till  that 
whole  square  is  done." 

If  Rachel  had  been  stone  deaf  she 
could  not  have  shown  less  attention. 
Nancy  caught  her  arm  quickly, 
and,  without  thinking  much  of  dislo- 
cated shoulders,  landed  her  on  the 
floor.  Rachel  flew  at  her,  struck, 
scratched,  pinched,  and  bit  her,  much 
more  like  an  enraged  animal  than 
like  a  child.  -At  first  Nancy  was  too 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         65 

much  surprised  to  make  any  resist- 
ance, and  it  was  not  until  she  felt 
Rachel's  teeth  in  the  fleshy  part  of 
her  thumb  that  she  tried  to  defend 
herself,  and  even  then  it  required  all 
the  exercise  of  her  strength  to  hold 
and  control  her. 

Mrs.  Til  ton  heard  from  her  room 
the  screams  with  which  Rachel  vent- 
ed her  fury,  and  Nancy's  loud  and 
angry  rebukes,  and,  hastening  in, 
found  Rachel  struggling  in  Nancy's 
firm  grasp,  with  her  face  purple  with 
anger,  and  Nancy  with  an  expression 
of  mingled  terror  and  vexation. 

To  separate  the  two  was  no  easy 
task.  Words  of  command  and  en- 
treaty proved  at  first  in  vain ;  and  it 
was  not  until  Mrs.  Tilton  had  her 
hand  fairly  over  Rachel's  mouth  that 
she  could  stop  either  her  screams  or 


66  EACHEL  ;    OB, 

her  attempts  to  bite.  But  at  last  Ra- 
chel's eyes,  so  wild  and  unnatural  in 
their  staring  expression,  began  to 
droop  a  little,  and  the  rigid  muscles 
to  yield.  Mrs.  Tilton  took  the  tight- 
clenched  hands  in  hers,  and  held 
them  gently;  and  Nancy,  with  a 
great  effort,  yielded  the  child  to  her 
mistress. 

"  O,  ma'am,"  she  said,  catching  her 
breath  as  she  spoke,  "if  she  be'ent  a 
tiger,  a  real  lion,  then  I  never  saw 
nor  heard  any  one  who  was;  why 
she  is  a  wild-cat.  See  here  how  she 
clawed  me;"  and  Nancy  held  out 
her  scratched  and  bleeding  hands. 

"What  does  this  all  mean,  Nan- 
cy?" 

"Just  nothing  at  all,  ma'am.  She 
wanted  to  look  at  them  birds  long 
past  her  lesson  time,  and  I  thought 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         67 

as  they  were  new  it  was  natural  like, 
and  so  I  told  her  to  take  her  sewing 
instead  —  you  know  she  could  hear 
them  sing  and  sew  too ;  but  when  I 
spoke  to  her  she  didn't  take  no  more 
notice  of  me  than  just  nothing  at  all, 
and  I  spoke  again,  and  she  was  as 
deaf  as  a  post ;  so  I  took  hold  of  her 
and  put  her  down  here,  and  she  flew 
at  me." 

Nancy,  as  she  told  the  story,  cast 
many  angry  and  revengeful  looks  at 
Rachel,  who  stood  close  by  Mrs.  Til- 
ton's  side,  looking  from  one  to  the 
other,  as  if  she  had  just  waked  from 
a  dream,  a  bad,  ugly  dream. 

Mrs.  Tilton  saw  the  expression,  the 
same  that  she  had  seen  on  the  day  of 
the  street  affray.  She  remembered 
then  that  she  had  been  able  to  soothe 
her  only  by  the  most  tender  treatment, 

5 


68  KACHEL;  OB, 

and  that,  of  course,  was  the  best  way 
now ;  so  she  said  to  Nancy,  "  You 
may  go,  Nancy,  I  will  talk  with  you 
more  by  and  by  when  she  is  quieter." 

Nancy  looked  as  if  she  wanted  to 
question  the  order,  and  have  the 
trouble  settled  then  and  there ;  but  a 
look  from  Mrs.  Tilton  told  her  that 
there  was  no  use  in  disputing  it,  and 
she  very  reluctantly  moved  away. 

Mrs.  Tilton  sat  down  in  the  rock- 
ing chair,  the  very  one  in  which  she 
had  so  often  rocked  her  own  children 
to  sleep,  and  laying  Rachel's  head 
upon  her  breast,  without  saying  one 
word,  she  began  to  rock  her.  As 
she  did  so,  God  sent  into  her  heart 
so  many  sweet,  motherly  thoughts, 
so  many  memories,  gentle  and  ten- 
der, that  the  wild  throbbing  pulses 
that  were  beating  against  hers  could 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         69 

not  but  be  stilled.  After  a  few  min- 
utes' silence,  she  began  to  sing  a  soft, 
low  lullaby,  one  which  she  had  sung 
so  many,  many  times  before ;  and  as 
she  sung,  Rachel's  quick  breathing 
became  more  quiet,  her  mouth  partly 
opened,  and  soon  her  head,  which 
had  only  staid  where  Mrs.  Tilton  had 
placed  it,  because  she  felt  that  it 
must,  drooped  heavily.  The  storm 
was  past.  The  child  remained  quiet 
so  long  that  Mrs.  Tilton  thought  she 
must  have  fallen  asleep;  and  when 
she  looked  de>wn  into  her  face,  she 
was  surprised  to  see  her  wide  awake, 
and  with  a  loving  look  in  her  eyes. 

"Dear  little  Rachel,"  she  said; 
"you  are  very  sorry  that  you  have 
done  so  wrong." 

Rachel  nestled  closer  to  her,  but 
did  not  speak. 


70  RACHEL;  OR, 

"  Do  you  know  whom  you  have 
made  sorry  besides  mamma,"  (Rachel 
called  Mrs.  Tilton  mamma  now,) 
"and  papa,  and  good,  kind  Nancy, 
and  little  Rachel?" 

"  No,  mamma,"  said  Rachel  in  a 
whisper. 

"You  have  grieved  your  dear 
Saviour." 

Rachel  looked  up  wonderingly. 

"Listen  to  me,  Rachel.  You  re- 
member last  night  I  told  you  about 
Jesus  taking  the  little  children  in  his 
arms  and  blessing  them,*and  how  he 
was  waiting  to  love  and  bless  you?" 

"  And  did  he  come  and  stay  in  my 
room  all  night  after  you  went  away  ?" 
asked  Rachel  quickly. 

"  Yes,  when  papa  and  mamma  and 
Nancy  were  asleep  too,  and  there 
was  no  one  to  take  care  of  you, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.  1 

Jesus  was  there,  and  he  kept  all  harm 
away,  and  when  you  were  rested  he 
sent  the  morning  light  and  the  bright 
sun  to  wake  you  and  make  you  happy 
and  good  all  day." 

"  When  did  he  go  away  ?" 

"  He  has  never  gone  away ;  he  was 
here  when  papa  brought  home  the 
pretty  birds,  and  he  loved  to  see 
them  and  to  have  you  happy  with 
them." 

"  Where  is  he  now  j" 

a  He  is  here,  and  he  was  here  when 
you  were  so  very  wicked.  He  saw  it 
all;  he  saw  how  you  struck  and 
pinched  and  bit ;  he  saw  every  print 
which  your  teeth  made  in  Nancy's 
hands,  and  every  drop  of  blood  which 
your  nails  drew.  How  do  you  think 
he  felt?" 

Rachel  sat  up  and  looked  search- 


72  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

mgly  round  in  the  room,  then  turned 
her  eyes  with  a  doubting  expression 
toward  her  new  mother. 

Mrs.  Tilton  understood  it,  and 
said,  "You  think,  perhaps,  because 
you  cannot  see  him  that  he  is  not  here. 
You  know  I  have  always  told  you  no 
one  could  see  God,  or  Christ,  until 
they  die  and  go  to  heaven.  When  I 
came  into  your  room  last  night  after 
dark  and  spoke  to  you  behind  the 
curtains  of  your  bed,  and  you  an- 
swered me,  could  you  see  me  ?" 

"No,  mamma." 

"  And  yet  you  knew  I  was  there 
and  was  speaking  to  you  ?" 

"  Yes,  mamma." 

"It  is  just  so  with  Jesus.  He  is 
here,  but  you  cannot  see  him  any 
more  than  you  could  see  me,  because 
he  is  a  spirit,  and  that  shuts  him  out 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         73 

from  your  sight  just  as  much  as  the 
dark  shuts  me  out.  Now,  as  he  loves 
you  better  than  any  one  else  can,  so 
he  feels  more  grieved  and  sorry  when 
you  do  wrong  than  even  I  do." 

"  I  don't  believe  it,"  said  Rachel. 

"Rachel,  that  is  a  very  improper 
way  of  speaking." 

"  But  I  don't  want  him  to  be  sor- 
ry, and  to  love  me  better  than  you 
do.  I  love  you  best." 

Mrs.  Tilton  saw  this  was  a  point  it 
would  be  in  vain  to  argue  with  her 
now,  so  she  said,  "  I  hope  I  love  Je- 
sus a  great  deal  better  than  I  do  any 
one  else,  and  there  is  no  one  I  am  so 
sorry  to  grieve.  When  I  have  done 
wrong  the  first  thing  I  do  is  to  kneel 
down  and  ask  him  to  forgive  me ;  so 
now  we  will  kneel  down  and  I  will 
ask  him  to  forgive  my  child  and 


74  EACHEL;  OK, 

make  her  better.  I  am  going  to  tell 
him  just  what  a  naughty,  wicked 
temper  she  has,  and  ask  him  to  help 
her  to  govern  it." 

Without  saying  any  more  Mrs. 
Tilton  knelt  by  the  rocking  chair, 
and  folding  Rachel's  hands  in  hers, 
prayed  for  her.  It  was  probably 
the  first  time  in  her  life  that  Rachel 
really  knew  what  prayer  meant,  and 
now  she  did  not  know  clearly;  she 
had  only  a  vague  idea  that  some  one 
who  was  there,  and  she  could  not  see 
any  more  than  if  it  was  dark,  was 
sorry,  and  she  was  to  be  forgiven. 
There  stole  into  her  heart  a  new  feel- 
ing of  regret,  she  did  not  know  that 
it  was  repentance,  for  as  yet  she  had 
not  begun  to  realize  how  wrong  a 
thing  an  indulged  temper  is,  though 
she  had  often  been  told  of  it  at  the 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.  5 

Asylum.  A  bad  temper  is  different 
from  almost  any  other  bad  trait.  It 
comes  so  suddenly,  and  is  so  overmas- 
tering, that  those  who  have  it  are  often 
made  its  victims,  it  would  almost 
seem,  without  any  choice  on  their 
part.  If  Rachel  had  known,  when 
she  felt  herself  swinging  from  the 
chair  to  the  floor  in  Nancy's  hands, 
that  she  was  going  to  be  angry,  she 
probably  would  have  tried  to  control 
it ;  but  poor  child,  as  I  have  said,  she 
knew  very  little  either  what  temper 
was  or  what  control  meant.  While 
Mrs.  Tilton  was  praying  with  her,  for 
the  first  time  an  indistinct  impression 
of  having  done  wrong,  or  rather  a 
heavy  feeling  about  her  heart,  made 
her  wish  she  could  see  Jesus,  and  go 
up  to  him  and  say,  as  Mrs.  Tilton  had, 
"  Forgive  me,  I  am  very,  very  sorry," 


Y6  EACHEL;  OR, 

She  thought  of  him  as  she  had  seen 
him  on  the  great  pictured  cards 
which  her  papa  had  brought  her 
from  which  to  learn  her  Sabbath  les- 
son, sitting  under  a  tree  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  children,  with  his 
hands  on  the  heads  of  two.  Her 
mamma  had  told  her  he  was  blessing 
them,  and  if  he  were  only  here,  and 
would  put  his  hand  on  her,  perhaps 
he  would  bless  her,  and  then  that 
would  be  the  same  as  being  forgiven, 
for  the  children  that  were  around 
him  looked  so  happy,  as  if  none  of 
them  felt  sad  and  troubled  as  she  did. 
This  was  an  important  step  for 
Rachel.  My  readers  will  remember 
what  I  said  to  them  in  the  first  chap- 
ter about  the  necessity  of  asking 
Christ  to  forgive  us  and  help  us,  if 
we  wish  to  conquer  a  fault,  and  that 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         TT 

we  must  be  sincere  and  earnest  if  we 
expect  him  to  do  so.  Rachel  had 
at  this  time  a  feeling  that  there  was 
somebody  who  must  forgive  her,  and 
a  desire  to  be  forgiven.  This  was 
one  step  in  the  right  way :  repent- 
ance, and  a  desire  to  have  the  sin 
blotted  out.  So,  when  Mrs.  Tilton 
asked  her  if  she  would  not  like  to 
ask  Jesus  to  pardon  her,  instead  of 
standing,  as  she  had  at  the  Asylum, 
with  only  a  dim,  struggling  wish,  she 
fell  again  on  her  knees,  and  said, 

"  O,  Jesus,  if  you  se'ed  me  be  very 
angry,  and  do  all  those  naughty 
things  mamma  says  I  did,  wont  you 
make  me  never  do  so  any  more. 
Amen." 

That  was  Rachel's  first  prayer;  I 
mean  the  first  one  she  ever  prayed 
from  her  own  heart  in  her  own  words. 


8  RACHEL  J    OR, 

Mrs.  Tilton  was  reassured  by  its 
simple  fervor  ;  and  the  hope  that  she 
had  taken  the  right  method  in  this 
first  exhibition  of  Rachel's  temper 
since  she  had  adopted  her,  gave  her 
courage  for  the  future. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         79 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE     EMPTY      NAIL. 

WHEN  Mrs.  Tilton  saw  how  melted 
and  tender  Rachel  was  she  felt  quite 
unwilling  to  inflict  any  punishment 
for  the  temper  which  she  had  shown, 
but  she  was  too  wise  and  good  not 
to  believe  in  Solomon's  theory,  that 
sparing  the  rod  spoils  the  child.  She 
knew  that  it  need  not  be,  literally, 
the  rod,  but  some  kind  of  suffering, 
a  penalty  for  a  broken  law;  some- 
thing which  should  touch  and  influ- 
ence the  heart. 

So  far,  since  she  had  been  with 
her,  Rachel  had  never  required  this 
kind  of  discipline,  and  Mrs.  Tilton 
knew  that  the  better  and  more  care- 


80  EACHEL;  OR, 

Fully  a  child  is  trained  the  less  neces- 
sity there  is  for  it ;  but  she  knew  too 
that  if  such  an  emergency  should 
come,  to  shrink  from  meeting  it 
would  be  to  do  Rachel  a  great  injury. 

"  Dear  Rachel,"  she  said  now, 
"  mamma  is  very  sorry,  but  she  must 
take  away  your  pretty  birds  until 
she  feels  quite  sure  you  are  penitent, 
and  will  try  never  to  do  so  again." 

Rachel  sprang  eagerly  toward  the 
cage  and  held  both  hands  up  to  it, 
but  did  not  speak. 

"I  shall  carry  the  cage  into  my 
room,  and  Nancy  will  take  good  care 
of  Dick  and  Nellie;  but  God  made 
the  birds  for  those  children  only 
who  know  how  to  govern  their 
naughty  tempers.  As  soon  as  you 
have  learned  to  do  so  they  may  come 
home  again." 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         81 

Mrs.  Tilton  took  the  cage  down 
from  the  nail.  Dick  flew  to  the 
bars,  put  his  cunning  head  against 
them,  as  if  he  was  trying  to  get  out, 
and  began  to  sing  one  of  his  sweetest 
songs.  He  had  never  sang  so  loud 
and  clear  before,  and  Rachel  put 
both  arms  around  the  cage  and  tried 
to  kiss  him  as  he  sang.  Very  strange- 
ly, Dick  did  not  seem  at  all  fright- 
ened. He  had  taken  an  extraordi- 
nary fancy  to  his  little  new  mistress, 
and  as  soon  as  the  song  was  ended 
he  put  his  bill  through  the  cage  as  if 
to  return  her  caresses.  Now  if  any 
one  but  Mrs.  Tilton  had  held  the 
cage,  Rachel  would  have  been  angry 
again,  for  this  appeal  of  birdie  to  her 
affection  was  quite  too  much.  As  it 
was,  the  color  came  and  went;  she 
drew  long,  deep  breaths,  and  then, 


82  RACHEL;  OR, 

by  the  greatest  effort  at  self-control 
which  she  had  ever  made,  threw  her- 
self upon  the  floor,  and  covered  her 
face  with  her  hands. 

Mrs.  Tilton  carried  the  birds  out 
quickly,  and,  stopping  for  a  moment 
to  listen  at  the  door,  heard  no  sound. 
Calling  Nancy,  she  told  her  what 
had  happened,  and  directed  her, 
after  a  few  minutes,  to  go  in,  and  if 
she  found  Rachel  quiet,  to  give  her 
the  square  of  patchwork  which  she 
had  told  her  to  do ;  after  it  was  fin- 
ished, she  must  take  her  out  for  a 
cheerful  walk  around  the  common; 
but  before  she  went,  she  hoped,  of 
her  own  accord,  she  would  tell  Nancy 
that  she  was  sorry  for  what  she  had 
done,  and  ask  her  forgiveness.  Should 
she  not,  Nancy  was  to  bring  her  to 
Mrs.  Tilton. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         83 

It  was  in  vain  that  Nancy,  whose 
good  heart  always  very  soon  got  the 
better  of  her  impatience,  now  tried 
to  blame  herself  more  than  Rachel, 
insisting  that  if  she  had  had  any 
sense,  she  might  have  seen  as  easy  as 
not  that  little  folks  who  never  owned 
birds  before  wanted  some  time  to 
love  them  in,  without  being  plagued 
with  sewing;  that  God  made  birds 
specially  for  them,  and  not  squares  of 
bed-quilts  ;  and — and — in  short,  that 
dear  little  Rachel  was  about  right,  and 
she,  old  nurse  Nancy,  was  growing  too 
old,  as  this  showed,  to  be  trusted  with 
the  darlings  any  more. 

It  was  in  vain  that  Mrs.  Tilton 
pointed  to  the  wounds  on  her  hands. 
She  said  they  were  u  no  more  than 
pin-scratches,  and  not  worth  mind- 
ing." So  Mrs.  Tilton  was  obliged,  at 


84  RACHEL;  OR, 

last,  to  insist  that  none  of  this  too- 
ready  forgiveness  should  be  shown 
to  the  child,  but  that  she  should  be 
made  to  feel  to  the  fullest  extent  the 
wrong  she  had  done. 

When  Nancy  left  Mrs.  Tilton's 
room,  it  was  with  a  more  imploring 
look  toward  the  cage  than  even  Ra- 
chel's face  had  worn ;  but  it  was  just 
as  unavailing.  Mrs.  Tilton  only  felt 
that  she  had  two  children,  an  old  and 
a  young  one,  to  deal  with,  and  must 
be  just  so  much  the  more  firm.  She 
knew  Nancy  would  gladly  have  car- 
ried it  back,  covered  the  child  with 
kisses,  given  her  every  pretty  thing 
she  could  find  for  her,  and  so  make 
friends  again  in  the  speediest  manner 
possible.  Nor  was  she  far  from 
right,  as  Nancy's  behavior  the  mo- 
ment she  left  her  showed.  Now  it 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         85 

must  be  known  that  Nancy,  like  a 
great  many  other  good  old  women, 
had  a  fancy  for  marvelous  cures,  and 
was  all  the  time  concocting  some  as- 
tonishing kind  of  medicine.  To  do 
her  justice  she  had  been  an  uncom- 
monly good  nurse,  and  with  her  nat- 
ural shrewdness  had  learned  much  of 
the  proper  treatment  for  sickness  and 
suffering.  Her  sick  friends  often 
sent  for  her  instead  of  a  physician, 
and  she  no  doubly  helped  the  patient 
to  be  well  quite  as  soon.  Among  her 
discoveries  was  a  wonderful  salve, 
which  healed  bruises,  cured  burns, 
closed  cuts,  took  down  inflammations, 
rubbed  away  swellings,  removed 
sprains ;  indeed,  it  was  equal,  in  its  re- 
medial effects,  to  the  best  quack  med- 
icine ever  puffed  in  a  newspaper.  A 
box  of  this  always  stood  on  the  table 


86  KACHEL;  OR, 

by  the  head  of  Nancy's  bed,  and  if 
Mrs.  Tilton  had  seen  her,  after  she 
left  her  room,  she  would  have  found 
her  rub  the  salve  most  energetic- 
ally into  every  little  mark  which 
Kachel  had  made,  and  then  slide  the 
box  into  her  pocket,  to  have  it  handy 
for  use  any  moment  when  she  should 
be  alone.  A  stranger  would  have 
thought  Nancy  the  guilty  one  to 
see  the  troubled  look  on  her  face  as 
she  went  toward  the  nursery;  and 
really  the  timid  way  in  which  she 
turned  the  latch  was  very  like  that  of 
a  naughty  child,  who  does  not  know 
what  kind  of  a  reception  is  waiting 
within. 

Kachel  had  got  up  from  the  floor 
very  soon  after  her  mother  had  left 
her,  and  had  gone  to  the  chair  by  the 
window  in  which  she  had  stood  to 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         8 

look  at  her  birds.  When  Nancy 
came  in  she  found  her  there  gazing  at 
the  empty  nail  with  such  a  sad, 
troubled  face,  that  in  spite  of  her  de- 
termination to  be  very  grave,  and  do 
just  as  she  knew  Mrs.  Til  ton  would 
wish,  Nancy  could  hardly  refrain 
from  catching  the  child  in  her  arms 
and  crying  with  and  for  her.  As 
it  was,  she  tried  to  look  straight 
forward,  as  if  she  did  not  see  her,  and 
walked  up  to  the  basket  of  patchwork, 
with  a  fervent  wish  in  her  heart  that 
it  was  anywhere  else,  and  made  for 
anything  but  Rachel's  fingers. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  and  there  was 
a  gentle  tremor  in  her  voice  which 
Rachel's  ear  immediately  caught; 
uMy  dear,  it's  a  beautiful  morning, 
and  mamma  says  when  you  have  done 
this  pretty  square  you  and  I  may  go 


88  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

and  have  a  nice,  pleasant  walk  on  the 
common.  Come,  darling,  we  will 
have  the  red  one  you  like  so  well, 
and  Nancy  will  thread  your  needle 
and  begin  it  for  you  all  nice." 

Rachel  jumped  down  from  the 
chair  and  came  to  Nancy's  side  with- 
out any  reply.  The  nurse  ventured 
a  look  at  her.  What  a  sad  face  it 
was !  so  unlike  her  Rachel's.  "  Now 
for  the  new  thimble,  the  real  silver 
thimble,  just  like  Nancy's,  that  mam- 
ma bought  for  you,  and  then  the  lit- 
tle finger ;  no,  not  the  thumb,  mamma 
don't  wear  a  thinible  on  her  thumb ; 
old  Susan  Price,  whose  fingers  are  all 
stiff  with  rheumatism,  does,  but  Ra- 
chel has  eight  fingers  all  made  for 
thimbles." 

Rachel  spread  the  whole  eight 
fingers  before  her.  "  Yes,  I  told  you 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.         89 

so,  dear  little  bits  of  fingers  they 
are  too.  Nancy  loves  every  one  of 
them,"  and  she  put  them  to  her  mouth 
and  gave  them  a  kiss.  "There, 
that  will  do.  Now,  here  is  the  thim- 
ble finger;  we  will  put  the  thimble 
on  and  then  give  it  two  more  kisses 
to  make  it  nimble,  and  sew  little 
stitches." 

Rachel  held  her  hands  still  through 
all  this,  looking  very  steadily  in  Nan- 
cy's face. 

The  reader  need  hardly  be  told 
that  the  square  selected  was  the  pret- 
tiest in  the  basket,  and  that,  when 
Nancy  had  threaded  the  needle  and 
began  it,  she  made  it  necessary  to 
sew  a  long  place  before  she  handed  it 
to  Rachel,  and  then,  when  seated  in 
her  little  chair  at  her  feet  the  child 
had  fairly  commenced  the  task,  she 


90  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

sat  watching  the  progress  of  every 
stitch  with  a  nervous  impatience 
which  it  was  very  well  for  Rachel 
not  to  see.  After  every  few 
stitches  Rachel  raised  her  eyes  to- 
ward the  empty  nail,  and  Nancy  saw 
her  lip  quiver  as  she  did  so. 

"  O  dear  me !"  she  said  to  herself, 
"she'll  burst  out  crying,  and  that 
will  be  the  last  of  me ;  for  certain  as 
I  live  I  shall  catch  her  up  and  com- 
fort her  in  spite  of  myself.  I  don't 
see  how  I  can  help  it." 

But  she  was  mistaken ;  Rachel  did 
not  cry ;  she  sat  still  and  sewed,  with 
her  face  growing  every  moment 
longer  and  sadder,  so  that,  when  she 
made  a  knot  in  her  thread  and  broke 
it,  Nancy  was  very  grateful  for  the 
excuse  for  taking  the  work  into  her 
own  hands  and  nearly  completing 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         91 

what  she  had  so  kindly  begun.  Ra- 
chel's face  did  not  brighten  now  as  it 
generally  did  for  any  such  help;  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  she  even 
felt  as  grateful  for  it  as  she  should. 
There  seemed  to  be  but  one  thing  of 
any  interest  to  her,  that  was  the 
empty  nail  from  which  the  bird  cage 
had  swung. 

Of  course,  the  sewing  was  finished 
in  a  much  shorter  time  than  usual, 
and  Nancy,  delighted  to  have  it  over, 
hurried  to  dress  Rachel  and  herself 
for  their  walk. 

Rachel  was  generally  a  very  pleas- 
ant companion;  she  saw  and  heard 
everything  out  of  doors  so  quickly. 
It  was,  as  Nancy  often  said  to  Mrs. 
Tilton,  as  good  as  a  story  in  a  child's 
story  book  to  be  with  her ;  but  to-day 
she  did  not  seem  to  care  for  anything. 


RACHEL;  OR, 

She  went  to  her  mother's  room 
to  say  "  good-by "  before  she  wentt 
and  came  back  with  teal's  in  her  eyes. 
Dick  had  seen  her,  and  sung  to  her. 
Nancy  wiped  the  tears  away,  and  as 
she  did  so  (O  joy  of  joys !)  Rachel 
took  her  wounded  hand,  covered  with 
salve  as  it  was,  in  her  own,  and  kiss- 
ing it,  whispered, 

"  I  am  so  sorry,  O  so  very,  very, 
very  sorry ;  poor,  dear  hand,  I  wont 
ever  do  so  again ;  never,  never,  never, 
never." 

"Why,  you  blessed  darling,"  said 
old  Nancy,  bending  down  to  kiss  her 
and  dropping  some  big  tears  on  the 
hands,  "  you  didn't  hurt  me  half  so 
bad  as  it  looks.  There,  now,  we 
never'll  do  so  any  more,  and  then  God 
will  forgive  us,  and  Nancy,  she  don't 
care  nothing  at  all  about  it,  only  she 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         93 

wants  her  darling  to  be  a  dear  little 
lady  that  Jesus  can  love.  He  don't 
love  any  of  your  wicked,  angry  chil 
dren.  Didn't  you  know,  when  you  are 
angry,  you  are  a  city  without  walls  ?" 

"  What  ?"  asked  Rachel,  whose  ear 
was  always  caught  by  anything  new 
and  strange. 

"  A  city  without  walls ;  haven't 
you  ever  heard  of  it  ?"  Rachel  shook 
her  head,  and  when  her  hat  was  tied 
on,  and  they  were  going  down  the 
stairs  hand  in  hand,  asked  again, 

"  What  is  a  city  without  walls  ?" 

Now  Nancy  was  a  good  Bible 
scholar,  and  knew  more  of  the  holy 
book  by  heart  than  very  many  who  are 
younger  and  more  intelligent.  She 
almost  always  had  a  verse  ready  to 
quote  on  any  important  occasion,  and 
could  generally  explain  its  meaning 


94  EACHEL;  OK, 

in  her  homely,  quaint  way;  but  for  a 
moment,  to-day,  she  was  puzzled,  so 
she  said, 

"  Wait  until  we  have  had  our 
walk,  and  then  I  will  tell  you  a  little 
story  about  it.  This  is  the  whole 
verse,  I  will  show  it  to  you  in  my 
big  Bible  when  we  come  home : 
4  He  that  hath  no  rule  over  his  own 
spirit  is  like  a  city  that  is  broken 
down  and  without  walls.' " 

Rachel  had  already  heard  many 
stories  from  that  big  Bible,  and  the 
happiest  hours  of  her  day  were  when 
Nancy  had  it  in  her  lap,  and  was 
talking  to  her ;  so  she  said,  "  When 
we  come  home  to-night,  then  we  will 
sit  down  and  have  a  long  story  all 
nice  and  good,  wont  we  ?" 

"  Yes,  lamb,  yes ;  so  we  will ;  and 
now  when  we  go  out  you  can  look  all 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         95 

around  and  see  what  a  real  city  is,  so 
you  will  know  the  better."  Nancy 
was  glad,  if  the  truth  must  be  told, 
to  have  this  time  in  which  to  think 
up  the  story.  Rachel  asked  so  many 
questions  that  it  was  difficult  at  any 
time  to  answer  her,  and  about  this 
city  without  walls,  she  did  not  feel 
so  sure  herself.  How  could  this  lit- 
tle girl,  who  had  no  idea  of  cities,  or 
walls,  or  robbers,  or  enemies,  or  any 
such  things,  be  made  to  understand. 
Well,  the  walk  was  to  come  now,  and 
the  story  by  and  by,  so  they  went  out. 
It  was  a  clear,  bright  December 
day,  such  a  day  as  hardly  ever  comes 
to  any  city  but  Boston,  where  the 
air  is  sharp,  as  if  it  was  full  of  lit- 
tle icicles,  and  your  hands  and  feet, 
that  you  think  you  have  hidden  away 
so  nicely  under  warm  coverings,  are 


96  KACHEL;  OB, 

found  out  and  pinched  and  numbed, 
until  you  really  begin  to  wonder 
whether  you  have  not  forgotten 
them,  and  left  them  at  home. 

Nancy's  old  blood  did  not  move 
with  quite  so  warmth-giving  a  flow 
as  Rachel's,  and  before  the  walk  was 
half  over  she  was  beginning  to  plan 
where  she  could  stop  to  get  warm, 
and  find  something  that  would  be 
pretty  and  pleasing  for  Rachel.  They 
had  generally  dropped  into  the  bird 
fanciers  in  Court-street,  but  that 
would  not  do  to-day.  Never  had  the 
windows  of  the  confectioners',  shops 
looked  so  tempting  before ;  but 
Mrs.  Tilton,  knowing  how  apt  Nancy 
would  be  to  make  frequent  visits  to 
them  if  she  found  it  pleasing  to  Ra- 
chel, had  expressly  forbidden  it.  The 
pictures  in  the  windows  were  mostly 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.         97 

of  a  kind  not  interesting  to  children, 
and  there  was  no  such  thing  as  look- 
ing over  children's  books  simply  to 
gratify  a  child.  While  Nancy,  with 
her  ears  and  nose,  her  fingers  and 
feet  tingling  with  the  frost,  was  in 
much  trouble,  wondering  what  she 
should  do,  the  question  was  answered 
by  a  beautiful  little  white  kitten's 
jumping  into  the  window  of  a  grocery 
which  they  were  passing,  and  Rachel's 
noisy  delight  as  she  saw  it. 

To  open  the  door  and  inquire  if 
she  could  buy  it  was  Nancy's  first 
movement. 

"Yes,"  the  man  replied.  "  It  troub- 
les me ;  it  is  so  tame  it  is  not  afraid 
of  any  one,  and  is  always  under  the 
customers'  feet." 

While  they  were  talking,  Rachel 
had  caught  the  kitten,  and  sitting  on 


98  RACHEL;  OR, 

a  box  was  hugging  and  kissing  it,  as 
only  little  girls  can,  and  looking  so 
radiantly  happy,  that,  without  a  sec- 
ond thought,  Nancy  paid  the  man 
what  he  asked  for  it,  and  told  Rachel 
it  was  hers,  and  she  might  carry  it 
home. 

Even  the  shopkeeper  and  the 
clerks  stopped  to  watch  her  as  she 
danced  around  the  store,  fairly  be- 
side herself  with  delight ;  and  kitty, 
quite  as  happy  to  be  loved  as  she 
to  love,  purred  and  nestled  down 
close  to  her,  and  put  her  little  vel- 
vet paw  all  over  Each  el's  cheeks 
without  so  much  as  showing  that 
she  owned  a  claw,  and  turned  her 
white  ears  up  and  down,  until  she  was 
sure  she  had  shown  off  their  pretty 
pink  lining.  Then  she  rubbed  her 
whiskers  on  Rachel's  tiny  muff  to  see 


Rachel   and   her   Kitten. 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.      101 

if  it  was  not  a  mouse,  and  having  sat- 
isfied herself  with  regard  to  all  these 
points,  shut  her  green  eyes  and  went 
to  sleep. 

Not  a  thought  besides  the  child's 
enjoyment  came  into  Nancy's  mind, 
until  she  saw  that  Miss  Kitty  was 
likely  to  have  a  profound  nap,  and  she 
herself  was  thoroughly  warmed ;  then 
for  the  first  time  she  remembered 
Mrs.  Tilton,  and  what  she  would  think 
of  her  purchase.  It  must  be  ac- 
knowledged that  with  the  thought 
many  doubts  occurred  to  Nancy,  and 
that  the  question  of  taking  the  kitten 
home  began  to  look  not  quite  pleas- 
ant. She  could  carry  it  through  the 
streets  under  her  cloak  well  enough, 
if  Rachel  would  let  her  take  it.  That 
was  not  the  point ;  but  was  not  this 

rewarding  when  Mrs.  Tilton  had  pun- 
7 


102  KACHEL  ;    OR, 

ished  ?     If  she  had  a  new  pet,  what 
was  the  use  of  the  empty  nail  ? 

Ah,  Nancy,  good,  kind  old  Nancy, 
you  are  not  the  only  one  whose  wise 
judgment  with  children  comes  too 
late.  Rachel  would  not  suffer  the 
kitten  to  leave  her  arms ;  she  prom- 
ised to  hold  her  tightly,  to  cover  her 
up  warm,  to  protect  her  from  any 
dog  or  boy  they  might  meet.  Nan- 
cy saw  by  the  quick  flash  of  her  eye 
that  it  would  not  do  then  and  there 
to  press  the  matter,  so  leaving  the 
rest  of  her  walk  unfinished,  very  re- 
luctantly it  must  be  confessed,  she 
turned  her  face  toward  home.  All 
the  way  she  heard  Rachel  kissing  the 
kitten,  and  the  little  thing  at  one  time 
gave  a  most  emphatic  cry,  as  if  the 
love  had  been  a  little  too  ardent  for 
its  comfort.  "  Now  what  will  come  ?" 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       103 

said  Nancy  to  herself  as  they  reached 
home  at  last.  "  Mrs.  Tilton  never 
makes  half-way  work  with  anything, 
and  I  am  almost  certain  she  wont 
thank  me  for  this;  perhaps  I  had 
better  go  right  up  first  and  settle  it 
with  her  before  Rachel  has  a  chance 
to  show  it  to  her.17  This  wise  resolu- 
tion she  was  prevented  from  carrying 
out  by  Rachel's  pushing  her  away, 
and  running  up  much  faster  than  she 
could  to  her  mother's  door.  Pushing 
it  open,  she  rushed  in  with, 

"  O  mamma !  see,  see  what  a  dear, 
darling  beauty  she  is  !" 

"What  a  cunning  little  thing!" 
said  Mrs.  Tilton,  looking  up  from  the 
book  she  was  reading.  "  Whose  is 
it?" 

"  My  ounty  tonty.  Nancy  said  the 
man  must  give  it  to  me,  and  he  did." 


104  EACHEL;  OR, 

Nancy  by  this  time  had  come  in  at 
the  door,  and  as  Mrs.  Tilton  looked  at 
her  she  saw  in  a  moment  that  she 
was  conscious  of  all  the  mischief  she 
had  done,  so  she  only  said, 

"  Nancy  is  very  kind  and  good  to 
you,  Rachel ;  do  you  remember  how 
you  hurt  her  this  morning  ?" 

Rachel's  face  changed  instantly, 
and,  dropping  the  kitten,  she  ran  to 
Nancy,  caught  her  hand,  and  looking 
at  it  carefully,  said, 

"  Must  the  kitty  stay  here  too  with 
the  birdies?  I  will  not  cry.  I  will 
not  be  angry.  I  will  try  to  be  good." 

"  O,  Mrs.  Tilton,  ma'am,  if  you  had 
only  seen  and  heard  her,"  broke  in 
Nancy;  "before  we  went  out  you 
would  have  felt  that  she  was  repent- 
ant and  never  would  do  so  again.  It 
almost  broke  her  heart  to  see  how 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      105 

she  had  hurt  her  poor,  dear  old 
Nancy;  and  as  for  the  kitten,  why  it 
will  always  be  a  teaching  her,  a  kind 
of  saying  to  her,  i  now  be  gentle  like, 
and  don't  you  get  angry.'  You  may 
see  by  its  very  face,  ma'am,  that  it's 
all  ready  to  say  so  to  her."  And 
Nancy  followed  what  she  had  said 
with  a  series  of  expressive  gestures 
made  behind  Rachel's  back. 

Mrs.  Tilton  shook  her  head  at  her ; 
indeed,  she  was  far  from  pleased,  and 
would  gladly  have  sent  the  kitten 
away,  could  she  have  done  so  without 
further  trouble.  As  it  was  she 
said, 

"  Rachel,  you  may  have  her,  and 
take  her  to  the  nursery  just  so  long 
as  you  are  well  behaved;  but  the 
first  time  you  are  angry  I  shall  take 
her  away  and  shall  not  give  her  back 


106  EACHEL  ;    OR, 

to  you  again,  as  I  promised  I  would 
the  birdies." 

"  When  I  am  a  city  without  walls 
will  you  take  her?"  asked  Rachel. 
"  Nancy  says  I  was  to-day,  and  to- 
night she  is  going  to  tell  me  what  it 
means." 

"Yes,"  said  her  mother,  smiling, 
"  when  your  walls  are  broken  down, 
and  whole  armies  of  naughty,  wicked 
feelings  come  rushing  in,  then  kitty 
will  be  afraid  to  stay  with  such  a 
child,  she  will  want  to  run  away 
somewhere  else.  No  little  pet  loves 
a  child  that  is  not  gentle,  kind,  and 
tender  with  it.  Look  in  kitty's  face  ; 
do  you  suppose  she  would  shut  her 
eyes  and  go  to  sleep  so  quietly  if  she 
thought  you  would  be  likely  to  strike 
or  pinch  her  the  next  moment  ?" 

Rachel    held   her   kitten   up    and 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      10  7 

kissed  her,  and  as  she  did  so,  she 
looked  so  mild  and  loving  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  believe  that  she 
could  be  angry  again. 

"You  may  be  right,"  said  Mrs. 
Tilton  to  Nancy,  "  kitty  may  teach 
her  what  you  and  I  cannot.  Let  us 
now  hope  for  the  best.  She  may 
play  until  time  for  her  afternoon  les- 
sons, and  then,  Rachel,  you  must  not 
object  to  kitty's  being  carried  away 
until  they  are  learned." 

Dick  sang  very  loud  from  his 
perch,  and  Nellie  hopped  down  at 
this  moment  to  dip  its  little  bill  into 
the  water.  Rachel  forgot  her  new 
pet  while  she  stood  looking  at  them. 
O  if  she  could  only  take  them  too, 
there  would  not  be  a  happier  child, 
she  felt  sure,  in  all  the  wide  world. 
Nancy  waited  patiently  for  her  until 


108  KACHEL;  OB, 

the  song  was  ended,  then  they  went 
to  the  nursery,  where  the  first  thing 
Rachel's  eyes  sought  was  the  empty 
nail.  She  saw  it  for  a  moment  only, 
then  the  tears  shut  it  out ;  nor  could 
the  sight  of  kitty,  now  busily  explor- 
ing the  room,  divert  her  from  it. 
That  empty  nail,  how  much  it  said 
to  Rachel !  She  sat  down  before  it, 
and  fancied  she  saw  the  cage  swing- 
ing from  it;  fancied  she  saw  Dick 
and  Nellie ;  and  then  she  listened 
for  the  song ;  but  she  heard  only 
her  conscience  saying, 

"Little  girl,  be  careful,  be  very 
careful  to  govern  that  bad  temper  of 
yours.  Ask  God  to  help  you.71 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      109 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CITY    WITHOUT    WALLS. 

IT  was  difficult  for  Nancy  to  re- 
strain her  admiration  of  the  manner 
in  which  Rachel  performed  her  after- 
noon tasks.  Kitty  was  carried  away 
without  a  word  of  objection,  the  long 
spelling  lesson  faultlessly  learned,  the 
wounded  hands  kissed  so  many  times 
that  no  more  salve  was  needed  for 
their  healing;  and  when  the  hour 
came,  after  tea,  in  which  Rachel  was 
accustomed  to  get  the  great  Bible 
and  read  her  evening  portion  over  to 
Nancy,  reciting  her  verse,  and  hav- 
ing, as  a  reward,  a  long  story,  it  may 
be  questioned  which  was  the  hap- 
pier, the  little  girl  or  the  old  nurse. 


110  EACHEL;  OR, 

Rachel  would  always  draw  Nancy's 
chair  up  before  the  bright  grate,  put 
her  own  close  beside  it,  and  then  lay 
her  head  on  the  spotless  white  apron, 
which  Nancy  kept  for  "  tending  chil- 
dren in,"  and  then  the  story  was 
begun.  To-night  Rachel  was  not 
slow  to  claim  the  promise  of  the 
story  about  the  city  without  walls ; 
and  as  Nancy  had  profited  by  the 
hint  conveyed  in  Mrs.  Til  ton's  re- 
mark to  Rachel,  she  was  now  all 
ready  to  begin,  after  reading  with 
her  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Prov- 
erbs, which  contained  the  verse. 

"There  was  once  a  great,  good 
King,  who  lived  in  a  beautiful  coun- 
try far  off  from  here.  You  don't 
know  how  beautiful  the  country  was. 
Its  rivers  were  waters  of  life,  its  seas 
were  of  glass,  and  its  stones  were 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       Ill 

precious  stones ;  its  houses  were  built 
of  pure  gold;  its  gates  were  pearls, 
and  its  gardens  were  full  of  flowers 
that  never  die/' 

"I  should  like  to  see  those,"  said 
Rachel. 

"  Yes,  darling,  you  don't  know  how 
pretty  they  are,  and  how  happy  all 
the  children  are  who  live  there." 

"  Do  they  have  birds  and  kitties  ?" 

"  They  have  everything  they  want 
to  make  them  happy.  Well,  this 
great  King  has  only  those  children 
live  there  with  him  who  are  good, 
and  who  have  been  tried.  It  is  trial 
that  helps  people  become  good.  Did 
you  know  it,  Rachel  ?" 

Now  Rachel  had  a  half-idea  that  a 
trial  was  something  that  everybody 
disliked,  but  must  have,  so  she  said 
"Yes,"  and  Nancy  went  on.  "But 


112  EACHEL;  OR, 

as  there  is  nothing  in  His  country  to 
try  them,  He  causes  a  child  to 
live  first  in  another  land,  where  she 
will  meet  with  a  great  many  strange 
and  hard  things.  He  lets  her  live 
there,  sometimes  long  years,  until 
she  becomes  old,  and  then,  if  all 
these  trials  that  she  has  met  have 
not  conquered  her,  but  she  has  con- 
quered them,  He  takes  her  to  His  . 
land  and  makes  her  a  child  again, 
and  lets  her  stay  there  forever. 
When  He  places  her  in  this  strange 
land  He  builds  a  wall  up  around  her 
soul,  which  is  the  part  that  lives 
with  Him.  It  is  just  as  if  this  soul 
was  a  city,  because  there  are  so 
many  different  things  living  in  it. 
There  is  what  makes  her  smile 
and  what  makes  her  cry,  what 
makes  her  love  and  what  makes  her 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      113 

hate,  what  makes  her  happy  and 
what  makes  her  sorry,  what  makes 
her  remember  and  what  makes  her 
forget,  what  makes  her  like  pretty 
things  and  dislike  ugly  ones,  what 
makes  her  want  to  do  right  and  be 
afraid  to  do  what  is  wrong,  and  what 
makes  her  very  sad  and  troubled 
when  she  has  done  wrong ;  there  is, 
too,  the  feeling  that  makes  her  want 
to  pray  and  to  read  her  Bible,  and 
to  like  to  hear  about  God  and  her 
Saviour.  Now  suppose  every  one  of 
these  things,  and  a  great  many  more 
which  I  can't  stop  to  tell  you  of  now, 
were  houses,  don't  you  see  what  a 
little  city  full  there  would  be  ?" 

"  A  whole  lot,"  said  Rachel,  "but 
what  funny  houses  they  are.  Are 
they  of  gold  too  ?" 

"O  no;  it  is  only   the  houses  'in 


114  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

that  beautiful  land  where  the  King 
lives  that  are  of  gold." 

"  Is  the  child  the  soul  ?" 

"  Yes,  they  are  the  very  same,  only 
the  child  we  see  has  a  body  that  God 
has  given  to  clothe  the  soul.'' 

Rachel  looked  very  much  puzzled, 
but  Nancy  knew  she  could  not  make 
this  clear,  so  she  went  on  without 
observing  it.  "  Well,  around  all 
these  houses  God  builds  a  wall  when 
he  makes  the  child.  It  is  a  strange 
wall ;  outside  it  is  very  thin,  and  ev- 
erything that  comes  against  it  could 
break  it  down  easily  if  God  hadn't 
put  inside  of  it  some  curious  kinds  of 
gates,  so  that  when  the  soul  sees  any- 
thing that  will  break  the  walls  com- 
ing, if  it  is  on  the  watch,  all  it  has  to 
do  is  to  shut  down  the  gates  and 
everything  within  the  city  is  safe; 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       115 

nothing  can  then  break  the  walls  in, 
or  tumble  them  down,  or  even  get 
one  single  stone  out  from  them. 
What  is  more  curious  still,  no  matter 
how  little  or  how  weak  any  little 
child  is,  it  has  the  strength  to  shut 
these  gates,  even  if  it  can't  do  any- 
thing else.  Sometimes  the  king 
makes  them  so  that  if  the  child  just 
wishes  them  shut  they  will  close 
tight ;  and  sometimes,  when  he  thinks 
the  child  will  be  the  better  for  it,  he 
makes  it  very  hard  to  close  them,  so 
that  the  owner  has  to  tug  and  pull 
with  all  his  might.  Even  then  it  oc- 
casionally happens  that  if  he  does  his 
very  best  he  can't  move  the  gates, 
and  the  enemies  from  the  outside 
break  down  the  walls,  and  even  the 
houses.  Then  he  has  to  cry  for  help 
to  the  great  King,  who  is  always  list- 


116  KACHEL;  OR, 

ening  and  ready,  and  comes  right  to 
the  rescue,  and  with  his  own  great 
hand  closes  the  gates. 

"  This  child  that  I  was  telling  you 
about  when  I  began  iny  story  came 
away  from  the  beautiful  home  with 
its  walls  all  strong  and  whole,  and 
most  of  its  houses  filled  with  good 
people;  but,  and  here  is  another 
strange  thing,  when  the  king  makes 
this  city  he  lets  people  who  are  not 
good  get  into  some  of  the  houses,  evil 
ones,  who  are  ready  to  help  those  who 
come  from  without,  and  destroy  the 
child,  so  that  it  cannot  go  to  the 
king's  country." 

"What  does  he  do  that  for?" 
asked  Rachel  eagerly. 

"  Because  he  wants  the  child  thor- 
oughly tried,  and  it  would  be  only 
half  as  hard  to  keep  the  enemies  out 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      11 

from  the  outside  if  there  were  none 
within  to  help  it.  This  child  of 
whom  I  tell  you  we  will  call  Zaidee." 

"What  a  funny  name!"  said  Ka- 
chel,  much  amused,  and  Nancy  her- 
self could  not  help  laughing ;  but  she 
had  read  it  somewhere  that  day,  and 
it  was  the  first  one  she  thought  of. 

"  Zaidee's  city  had  two  bad  enemies 
in  it.  but  it  was  a  long  time  before 
she  found  out  anything  about  them. 
One  enemy,  who  dwelt  in  a  beautiful 
house,  with  everything  as  pretty  and 
nice  as  could  be,  was  Mr.  Selfishness. 
Now  Zaidee  thought  him  a  very 
pleasant  gentleman,  he  had  such 
winning  ways,  and  he  always  had 
around  him  everything  that  anybody 
could  want.  Zaidee  saw  that  he  al- 
ways had  the  best  apples  and  pears 
and  peaches  and  grapes,  the  prettiest 


118  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

flowers,  the  prettiest  pictures,  and  so 
many  story  books;  but  it  took  a 
great  while  to  find  out  that  what  he 
had  he  kept,  and  that  he  also  took 
away  whatever  he  could  lay  his  hands 
on  that  belonged  to  any  one  else. 
This  was  the  way  he  kept  constantly 
breaking  down  her  walls.  Zaidee 
had  been  placed  in  the  care  of  a  very 
good  lady  in  the  trial-land,  and  this 
lady  had  three  other  little  children, 
all  given  to  her  by  the  same  being. 
Now  I  will  tell  you  just  one  instance 
of  how  Mr.  Selfishness  frequently 
served  her : 

"The  lady  had  a  fine  garden,  as 
good  a  one  as  often  was  seen  in  the 
trial-land,  and  she  told  the  children 
she  would  give  them  each  a  little  patch 
in  it  for  a  flower-garden,  and  who- 
ever should  bring  her  the  first  and 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      119 

handsomest  bunch  of  flowers  from  his 
own  bed  should  have  an  elegant  large 
picture  book,  which  they  all  wanted. 
Well,  most  of  the  time  the  children 
were  very  happy  together,  and  they 
laid  out  their  grounds,  and  hoed  and 
raked  and  planted  their  seeds,  and 
enjoyed  themselves.  By  and  by  the 
seeds  came  up,  and  then  they  weeded 
among  them,  and  watered  and  watched 
them  with  a  great  deal  of  interest. 
Mr.  Selfishness  was  very  well  satis- 
fied, for  Zaidee's  garden  looked  just 
as  well  or  a  little  better  than  any  of 
the  others  for  a  long  time ;  but  Zai- 
dee  was  indolent.  After  the  new- 
ness of  the  thing  had  worn  off,  she 
began  to  be  lazy  about  picking  out 
every  little  weed,  and  if  the  sun  had 
been  hot,  and  they  needed  more  than 
the  pailful  of  water  she  had  brought, 


120  EACHEL  ;    OR, 

she  would  throw  herself  down 
under  the  shadow  of  some  tree  and 
say  to  the  others  who  were  busy 
bringing  their  second  pailful,  'How 
foolish  you  are !  I  dare  say  there 
will  be  a  heavy  dew  to-night,  and 
they  will  be  as  wet  as  sop.  Come, 
sit  down  here  with  me,  and  hear  that 
gold  robin  sing ;  there  he  is,  on  the 
pear-tree.'  I  rather  think  Mrs.  In- 
dolence, a  fat  widow,  had  oue  of 
the  houses  in  Zaidee's  city,  don't 
you  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rachel;  "I  would  not 
let  her  stay ;  would  you  ?" 

"  No ;  I  should  turn  her  out.  She 
is  almost  as  bad  a  tenant  as  Mr.  Self- 
ishness; and  I  can  tell  you,  darling, 
you  have  no  idea  how  often  they  live 
side  by  side.  When  you  have  had  a 
flower-garden  you  will  know  that 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      121 

nothing  very  nice  ever  grows  with- 
out care." 

"When  shall  I  have  one?" 

"One  of  these  days  when  we  go 
to  our  home  on  Nelson's  Island,  and 
then  you  will  see  why  the  other's 
flowers  grew  taller  and  had  larger 
buds  on  than  any  which  Zaidee 
owned.  Now  Mr.  Selfishness  peeped 
out  of  his  windows  every  day,  and 
he  began  to  grow  more  and  more 
uneasy  to  see  how  fast  the  other 
flowers  were  outgrowing  Zaidee's. 

" '  This  will  never  do,'  he  said ; 
*  we  shall  lose  that  book.  We  must 
contrive  some  way  to  make  ours  bet- 
ter, or  theirs  not  so  good,'  and  so  he 
went  to  planning. 

"  He  was  the  enemy  within  the 
city.  Now  the  temptations  were  all 
to  come  from  outside  the  walls. 


KACHEL;  OK, 

There  was  the  book,  that  was  one; 
there  was  the  flower-gardens  all  ex- 
posed, so  Zaidee  could  injure  them 
at  any  time  she  wished ;  there  too 
was  the  love  the  other  children  had 
for  Zaidee,  never  letting  them  sus- 
pect that  she  would  or  could  do 
what  would  make  them  unhappy. 
These  were  the  trials  for  her,  or,  as 
they  proved,  the  enemies  waiting  to 
storm  the  gates ;  in  other  words,  the 
opportunities  given  her  for  choosing 
what  would  make  her  fit  to  go  and 
be  happy  with  her  King  in  the  beau- 
tiful country,  or  what  would  shut  her 
away  from  Him  forever. 

"So  many  plans  as  Mr.  Selfishness 
made.  But  what  do  you  think  was 
the  one  which  Zaidee  chose?  I  am 
almost  afraid  to  tell  you,  for  fear  you 
will  think  her  such  a  naughty  little 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      123 

child  you  wont  want  to  hear  any 
more  about  her.1' 

"  No,  I  shall  not,"  said  Rachel  en- 
couragingly. 

"She  got  up  early  one  morning, 
very  early,  before  the  others  were 
awake,  and  went  out  into  the  garden 
and  picked  off  all  the  buds  that  were 
larger  than  hers.  There  was  a  great 
handful,  so  she  did  not  at  first 
know  what  to  do  with  them ;  and  at 
last,  very  much  frightened  for  fear 
they  would  be  found,  and  she  pun- 
ished, what  do  you  think  she  did  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Rachel. 

"  No  more  you  don't,  but  I  can  tell 
you.  She  went  away  off  to  another 
part  of  the  garden,  dug  a  hole  in  the 
ground,  and  buried  them  all  there. 
When  the  other  children  came  out 
to  see  how  far  their  buds  had  opened 


124  EACHEL;  OR, 

in  the  night,  they  found  only  the 
broken  stems;  nothing  was  left  but 
the  smallest  and  meanest  flowers. 
Zaidee  came  with  them,  and  tried  to 
look  innocent,  and  as  if  she  felt  very 
sorry ;  but  she  had  to  turn  away  and 
hide  her  face,  it  was  so  covered  with 
blushes;  she  did  not  dare  to  have 
them  look  at  her,  for  fear  they  would 
suspect  her. 

"  Crying  very  hard,  they  all  ran  in 
to  the  kind  lady  under  whose  care 
they  were,  and  she  went  with  them 
to  examine  the  garden.  She  noticed 
at  once  that  none  of  Zaidee's  flowers 
were  touched,  and  although  she  had 
never  known  her  to  do  such  a  thing 
before,  she  could  not  but  think  it  very 
strange.  So  she  called  her,  and 
asked  her  what  it  meant;  and  one 
wrong  thing  always  leads  to  another. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       125 

Zaidee  said  what  was  not  true.  She 
said  she  had  not  been  near  them, 
and  did  not  know  anything  about 
them. 

" '  O,  Zaidee,  Zaidee,  what  a  naugh- 
ty little  girl  you  are  growing  to  be ; 
how  far  you  are  wandering  away 
from  your  beautiful  home !' 

"The  kind  lady  looked  at  her 
very  sorrowfully;  she  hardly  knew 
what  to  say ;  and  all  the  time  Zaidee 
stood  vexed  and  troubled,  almost 
wishing  she  had  let  the  flowers 
alone,  but  not  quite,  for  she  wanted 
the  handsome  book,  which,  she  felt 
sure,  must  now  he  hers.  Ponto,  a 
great  dog,  with  whom  the  children 
loved  to  play,  came  running  into  the 
garden,  and,  as  if  he  knew  there  had 
something  wrong  been  done,  and 
they  were  unhappy,  sniffed  with  his 


126  EACHEL    OR, 

cold,  yellow  nose  all  around  them ; 
and  perhaps  he  found  out  Zaidee  was 
not  good,  for  he  pushed  himself  hard 
against  her,  as  if  he  did  not  wish  her 
to  come  too,  then  darted  off  before 
the  others,  calling  them,  as  plain  as  a 
dog  can  speak,  to  come  and  have  a 
play  with  him.  They  did  not  wait 
for  a  second  invitation,  but  scamper- 
ed with  him,  and  away  he  dashed, 
down  to  the  very  part  of  the  garden 
where  Zaidee  had  hid  the  buds. 
Pretty  soon  he  came  upon  her  foot- 
steps, and  beginning  to  scent  them, 
as  dogs  will,  he  followed  them  till  he 
came  to  the  little  mound  of  fresh 
earth  which  she  had  piled  up  over 
the  buds.  This  he  soon  turned  over 
with  his  nose  and  paws;  and  there, 
not  more  than  an  hour  after  Zaidee 
thought  they  were  gone  forever,  they 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      127 

were  all  found,  and  the  children 
came  back,  bringing  them  in  their 
hands. 

"Zaidee  was  so  frightened  that 
she  could  not  deny  she  had  picked 
them  when  the  lady  asked  her. 
But  instead  of  being  sorry,  she 
flew  into  a  great  rage,  and  struck 
the  children,  then  ran  into  their 
gardens  and  began  tearing  up  ev- 
erything she  could  lay  her  hands 
on. 

"  When  the  lady  could  stop  her 
she  took  her  into  the  house,  and  shut 
her  up  in  a  dark  closet ;  and  while 
she  was  there,  with  nothing  to  do 
and  nobody  to  speak  to,  she  began  to 
think  about  her  city,  and  in  what  con- 
dition its  walls  were.  O  dear,  what  a 
place  it  was !  It  seemed  to  her  as  she 
sat  there,  all  alone  in  the  dark,  and 


128  KACHEL  ;    OR, 

thought  it  over,  that  there  was  not  a 
single  stone  left  one  upon  another, 
but  that  the  houses  were  all  open 
and  exposed  to  whoever  wanted  to 
come  in.  She  found  it  very  noisy 
and  busy  there,  and  as  she  listened 
she  found  how  many  wicked  visitors 
had  stolen  in  through  the  gaps  in  the 
wall,  and  the  noise  she  heard  was 
their  trying  to  take  possession  of 
some  of  the  good  people's  houses. 
There  was  Miss  Falsehood — what  a 
dreadful  looking  creature  she  was — 
it  made  Zaidee  frightened  to  look  at 
her.  She  strode  in  as  soon  as  Zaidee 
said  she  did  not  know  who  picked 
the  flowers,  and  was  trying,  with  her 
great  bony  hands,  to  pull  Truth  out  of 
her  white  marble  house.  But  Truth 
was  asking  the  great  King  to  let  her 
stay,  and  not  give  this  wicked  woman 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      129 

room  while  there  was  any  hope  of 
Zaidee's  wishing  to  repair  the  walls 
again  and  keep  her  out.  There  was 
Cunning,  a  very  ugly  boy,  who  picked 
his  way  pretty  quickly  through  a 
crack  in  the  walls,  while  Zaidee  was 
stealing  softly  out  of  her  bed  in  the 
morning,  and  looking  all  around,  to 
be  sure  no  one  should  see  what  she 
was  going  to  do.  He  wanted  to  live 
in  the  house  into  which  the  great 
King  had  put  Honesty ;  but  the  doors 
were  tight  locked  yet,  though  the  wall 
opposite  the  house  was  down.  But 
Temper  !  Temper  !"  said  Nancy,  look- 
ing very  significantly  into  Rachel's 
face  as  she  said  so,  "  Temper  was  the 
ugliest  and  the  worst  of  all  the  wick- 
ed people  that  came  in." 

"How  did  he  look?"   asked  Ra- 
chel. 


130  RACHEL;  OR, 

"  Look  !"  and  Nancy  was  tempted 
to  describe  the  way  in  which  Rachel 
had  looked  and  acted  that  morning, 
but  she  wisely  forbore.  "  He  looked 
monstrous  ugly !  His  face  was  all 
covered  with  black  and  blue  spots  ; 
he  had  one  eye  knocked  in,  his  lips 
were  as  big  as  two  great  beets,  and 
as  for  his  nose,  why,  he  had  had  it 
knocked  so  many  times  fighting,  it 
seemed  as  if  he  hadn't  any  at  all.  I 
never  saw  such  a  sight  in  my  life. 
Everybody  got  out  of  the  way  when 
he  was  coming  ;  nobody  ever  likes  to 
meet  him  for  fear  of  being  hurt." 

"  Did  he  have  marks  on  his  hands  ?" 
asked  Rachel  meekly. 

"  I  rather  think  he  did,"  answered 
Nancy  with  a  smile ;  "  there  are  always 
marks  all  over  him,  and  it  isn't  likely 
his  hands  would  escape.  He  went 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      131 

right  to  Sweet  Temper's  house,  and 
he  thundered  away  at  the  door  as  if 
he  would  knock  it  down ;  but  the 
great  king  was  there  before  him,  and 
he  dropped  another  bar  over  it;  so 
thump  and  bang,  loud  as  he  might, 
he  would  never  get  in  while  the  King 
staid  there,  and  he  would  stay  until 
Zaidee  wore  his  patience  out  by  hav- 
ing her  walls  tumble  down  too  often. 
As  for  Mr.  Selfishness,  he  began  to 
be  a  little  alarmed  at  what  he  had 
done ;  he  only  wanted  the  book ;  he 
did  pot  want  all  these  ugly  people  in 
the  city,  with  the  broken  walls,  and 
the  angry  King.  No,  indeed,  these 
consequences  had  never  entered  into 
his  thoughts. 

"And  that  is  always  the  way,  Ra- 
chel. The  wicked  part  of  us  that  does 
wrong,  in  the  end  suffers  more  than 


132  RACHEL;  OR, 

the  good  part  which  it  tries  to  injure, 
unless,  indeed,  we  become  all  wicked, 
then  all  is  lost  together." 

"  Did  the  good  King  make  new 
walls  ?" 

"No;  when  the  walls  which  he 
has  built  are  broken  down  he  leaves 
the  city  as  it  is,  until  by  prayer  and 
repentance,  and  trust  in  his  Son,  the 
child  begins  to  lay  one  stone  after  an- 
other; then,  when  he  finds  she  is  in 
earnest,  and  really  wishes  to  be  safe 
within  the  gates,  he  helps  her,  but  he 
only  works  just  so  far,  and  just  so 
fast,  as  she  is  able  and  willing  to  work 
with  him.  You  don't  know,  Rachel, 
how  long  it  takes,  and  what  hard 
work  it  is  to  build  up  again.". 

Rachel  sat  looking  into  the  fire,  evi- 
idently  thinking  intently  over  what 
she  had  heard.  At  last  she  asked : 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      133 

"  Where  is  Zaidee  now  ?  Has  she 
gone  home?" 

"  Zaidee  ?  O,  Zaidee,"  said  Nancy, 
puzzled ;  "  why,  Zaidee,  she  is  only 
Rachel  Tilton." 

"  Me  !"  said  Rachel,  "  I  never  saw 
any  great  king,  or  any  of  those 
things  you  have  been  telling  me 
about." 

"  Haven't  you,  my  darling  ?  Well, 
heaven  is  the  beautiful  land,  and  God 
is  the  great  king;  he  it  was  that  made 
you  and  all  the  other  little  children 
that  you  see,  and  placed  you  here  to 
be  tried,  so  that  you  may  grow  to  be 
good  and  pious,  and  when  you  die  go 
to  be  like  his  blessed  angels,  and  live 
in  golden  houses,  and  'never  have 
any  need  of  the  sun,  for  the  Lamb  is 
the  light  thereof.' " 

Nancy   said    this    very  solemnly. 


134  RACHEL;  OR, 

Rachel  only  half  understood  her,  but 
she  felt  that  it  was  true,  and  that 
there  was  something  about  her  ot 
which  she  had  never  thought  before. 
After  a  few  minutes'  silence  she 
asked: 

"Are  my  city  walls  all  broken 
down  because  I  was  angry  this  morn- 
ing ?  Who  lives  there  now  ?" 

"Yes,  Rachel,  when  you  struck 
and  pinched  me,  every  blow  went 
right  against  the  walls,  and  you  did 
not  stop  to  shut  the  gates.  O,  I  don't 
know  what  dreadful  work  th6y  made, 
nor  who  has  crept  in  to  push  the 
good  people  out  of  the  houses.  You 
will  have  to  pray  very  often  to  God 
to  help  you,  for  his  Son's  sake,  and 
work  very  diligently  with  your  own 
hands  to  build  them  up  again  soon, 
and  when  they  are  whole  and  strong, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       135 

the  wicked  feelings  do  not  stay.  God 
shuts  them  out." 

"And  bars  the  gates?" 

"  Yes,  but  not  so  tight  as  to  keep 
them  out,  unless  you  are  on  the 
watch.  When  you  find  you  are  go- 
ing to  be  angry  be  quick  and  shut 
the  gates." 

"  How  ?" 

"  Pray ;  say,  c  Grod  help  me  not  to 
be  angry,  for  Christ's  sake.  Amen.' " 

"  Will  he  help  me  ?" 

uYes,  always." 

It  was  now  Rachel's  bed-time. 
Nancy  had  told  her  of  but  one  of 
the  wicked  inclinations  which  within 
her  heart  were  ready  to  help  the 
temptations  from  without ;  but  the 
hands  of  the  clock  pointed  to  the 
hour  for  bed,  and  Nancy  well  knew 
how  particular  Mrs.  Tilton  was  about 


136  RACHEL;  OR, 

punctuality.  So  she  put  away  her 
Bible,  and  Rachel,  kneeling  by  her 
bed,  prayed  again.  This  time  she 
asked  God  to  make  the  walls  of  her 
city  strong,  to  make  the  gates  shut 
easily,  to  take  away  her  naughty  tem- 
per, and  make  her  good. 

My  young  readers,  how  is  it  with 
the  walls  of  your  city  ?  Are  they 
firm  and  whole  ?  Is  there  no  open- 
ing through  which  your  "easily  be- 
setting sin  "  enters  ?  When  your 
great  King  comes  down  to  visit  you, 
will  he  find  the  streets  all  swept  and 
garnished,  the  houses  inhabited  only 
by  those  whom  he  can  approve  ? 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      137 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  CHILDREN'S    MYSTERY. 

OUR  book  would  be  too  long 
should  we  follow  Rachel  through  all 
the  time  which  remains  now  between 
the  night  when  Nancy  told  her  the 
story  of  "  Zaidee,"  and  the  place 
where  we  left  her  in  our  story  about 
Ernest,  when  she  had  just  come  to 
Nelson's  Island.  We  trust  we  have 
told  our  readers  enough  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  her,  so  they  will  feel 
interested  in  following  her  through 
the  remaining  volumes. 

The  winter  passed  very  quickly  and 
happily  to  her.  When  her  new 
mother  thought  she  had  learned  fully 
the  lesson  from  the  empty  nail,  she 


138  RACHEL;  OB, 

brought  back  the  canaries,  and  it  was 
many  weeks  before  Rachel  could  look 
at  them  without  being  reminded  of 
what  had  occurred  on  the  morning  of 
their  removal.  Kitty,  too,  whom  she 
had  christened  Zaidee,  for  the  little 
child  who  was  going  to  the  beautiful 
land,  but  always  called  "Zaid,"  was 
a  well-mannered  kitten,  who  ran  for 
the  ball  or  the  string  after  the  most 
approved  kitten  style,  purred  as  loud 
as  a  happy  kit  need,  slept  long, 
long  naps  on  the  softest  seat  in  the 
nursery,  and  never  was  known  to 
attempt  to  kill  the  birds.  Perhaps 
this  was  because  they  were  entirely 
out  of  her  reach  ;  but  whatever  the 
true  reason  was,  Rachel  and  Nancy 
thought  it  was  because  she  was  so 
very  good,  and  gave  her  credit  ac« 
cordingly. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      139 

Zaid  always  wore  some  kind  of  a 
ribbon  or  bead  necklace  around  her 
neck,  and  was  hardly  allowed  the 
usual  privileges  of  kittenhood  for 
fear  some  harm  might  come  to  her. 
During  the  winter  she  proved  of 
much  use  to  Rachel  in  the  practical 
lessons  her  sweet  temper  taught,  for 
she  was  never  known  to  scratch,  or 
bite,  or  even  to  insist  on  doing  any- 
thing which  her  little  mistress  did 
not  wish  done.  Rachel  used  to  tell 
Nancy  laughingly  that  "  Zaid  "  had  a 
city  with  walls  all  up,  strong  and 
even,  and  not  so  much  as  a  loop-hole 
through  which  to  peep  out. 

When  the  spring  had  passed,  and 
the  warm  weather  began  to  come, 
Mrs.  Tilton  was  ready  to  make  her 
usual  removal  to  her  cottage  on  Nel- 
son's Island,  and  the  reader  already 


140  RACHEL  ;    OK, 

knows  of  the  surprise  of  Ernest  and 
Rachel  upon  meeting  there.  We 
shall  now  take  up  our  story  from  a 
week  after  Rachel's  arrival  at  her 
sea-island  home,  by  which  time  she 
had  become  acquainted  with  Alice, 
Tom,  Sam,  and  Eddie,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  old  wreck,  the  raft,  and  with 
every  other  object  of  interest  and 
amusement. 

No  one  can  tell  how  delighted 
Alice  was  to  have  a  little  girl-com- 
panion. There  was  only  one  thing 
which  really  troubled  her:  Rachel 
seemed  to  prefer  Ernest's  company  to 
hers  ;  and  even  Ernest  himself,  though 
he  was  her  brother  and  not  Rachel's, 
loved  to  talk  and  play  with  Rachel 
quite  as  well  as  with  herself.  The 
walls  about  Rachel's  city  had  become 
much  stronger  than  when  Ernest  last 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      141 

saw  her ;  or  perhaps  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  say  she  had,  through  God's  help, 
learned  to  shut  the  gates  more  quick- 
ly. She  was,  at  last,  really  beginning 
to  control  her  temper;  but  all  this 
we  shall  find  out  as  our  story  goes 
on. 

One  pleasant  morning  Sam  knocked 
very  early  at  Mrs.  Tilton's  door. 
Nancy  had  been  up  and  out  of  doors 
a  long  time.  Zaid  was  there  too ;  she 
was  always  the  last  in  the  house  to 
go  to  bed,  and  the  first  to  get  up. 
Nancy  was  weeding  Rachel's  garden ; 
she  did  not  think  it  was  quite  proper 
to  do  so  when  the  child  was  around, 
for  fear  it  might  teach  her  to  depend 
upon  others ;  but  if  she  had  a  chance, 
when  she  thought  she  would  not  find 
it  out,  you  may  be  sure  she  was  very 
diligent  about  it. 


142  EACHEL;  OR, 

Sam  had  come  to  tell  Rachel  that 
they  were  to  go  over,  right  after 
breakfast,  to  a  small  island,  one  mile 
from  theirs,  upon  which  they  were 
going  to  do  something  great. 

Now  Sam  was  not  a  favorite  with 
Nancy.  He  was  too  much  of  "  a 
humbug"  for  that.  So  she  got  up, 
and,  looking  at  him  over  her  specta- 
cles, said, 

"  So  I  suppose  you  think  Mrs.  Til- 
ton  is  a  going  to  let  Rachel  go  off 
with  you  wherever  you  want  to  take 
her,  without  anything  more,  do  you? 
I  can  tell  you,  you  are  very  much 
mistaken." 

"  Tom  is  going  too,  and  he  sent  me 
round  to  ask  Rachel.  He  says  we 
shall  have  prime  fun." 

"Don't  feel  sure,"  said  Nancy, 
shaking  her  head.  "  Tom  is  a  differ- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      143 

ent  boy  from  Sam  ;  but  there  aint 
no  telling.  Anyhow,  1  shall  run 
over  and  see  your  mother  about  it 
before  I  say  a  word  to  Rachel." 

"  Ernest  is  going,  and  Alice  too." 

"  Who  says  so  ?" 

"  I  say  so,"  and  Sam  tried  to  look 
very  carelessly  into  Nancy's  face ;  but 
it  would  not  do.  Sam  very  well 
knew  his  "  say  so  "  was  not  worth  a 
thought  to  any  one,  so  he  blushed 
after  all,  and  hung  his  head.  That 
was  bad  for  Sam;  but  he  was  so 
used  to  being  distrusted,  that  more 
than  half  the  time  he  did  not  feel 
quite  sure  whether  he  meant  what 
he  thought  he  did  himself. 

"I  mistrust  you,"  said  Nancy. 
"  Come,  if  your  mother  is  up,  I  will 
go  home  with  you  before  Rachel  has 
any  guess  what  is  going  on ;"  and 


144  EACHEL  ;    OK, 

Nancy,  without  waiting  for  any  re- 
ply, walked  off  toward  Mrs.  Cady's 
house. 

She  met  Tom  on  the  way  with  his 
arms  full  of  pieces  of  old  sail,  rope, 
ends  of  home-spun  carpet,  and  one 
old  bed  comforter.  He  tried  to  avoid 
her.  but  Nancy  was  not  the  kind  so 
easily  got  rid  of.  She  took  a  short 
path  toward  the  spot  where  she  saw 
that  Tom  would  come  out,  and  when 
he  thought  she  must  be  almost  to  his 
mother's,  where  she  frequently  made 
an  early  call  when  there  was  any 
plan  for  the  children  going  on,  she 
came  suddenly  upon  him  just  round 
the  pine-tree,  and  confronted  him 
with, 

"So  you  meant  to  get  rid  of  rne. 
Softly,  my  boy.  The  best  way  is  to 
take  old  Nancy  into  your  confidence, 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.       145 

and  tell  her  all  about  it  to  start 
with,  'cause,  you  see,  Rachel  can't 
go  no  other  way  in  the  world. 
Where  are  you  going,  and  what  are 
you  going  to  do  with  all  them  old 
traps  ?  La  me,  now,  I  wouldn't  have 
them  brought  into  our  house  on  no 
account.  There  is  no  telling  what 
an  army  of  moths  they  have  about 
them." 

For  a  moment  Tom  hesitated. 
What  splendid  help  Nancy  would 
be,  and  how  many  things  he  should 
want  that  she  could  procure  for  him. 
He  liked  her  too  right  well.  To  be 
sure,  she  scolded  him  roundly  if  she 
thought  he  was  doing  anything  im- 
proper ;  but  when  she  approved, 
what  a  host  she  was."  So  now  Tom 
looked  very  doubtfully  up  in  her 
face. 


146  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

"You'll  tell,"  he  said.  "I  never 
saw  a  woman  who  could  keep  a  se- 
cret yet." 

Nancy  laughed  a  very  good-natur- 
ed laugh.  There  was  something 
very  droll  to  her  in  being  spoken  so 
to  by  a  half-grown  boy ;  but  she  said 
at  the  same  time,  "  You  are  saucy, 
but  that  wont  help  you  any.  If  you 
want  Rachel  Tilton,  all  you  have  got 
to  do  is  to  own  up.  She  wont  go  a 
step  a  caracoling  off  with  you  boys 
on  this  mighty  ocean,  nobody  knows 
where." 

"You  are  not  her  mother,"  said 
Tom,  trying  to  gain  time  for  decid- 
ing what  he  had  better  do  about  the 
matter. 

"  No  more  I  aint ;  but  Mrs.  Tilton 
never  would  let  her  go,  no  more 
than  nothing,  if  I  told  her  it  wasn't 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      147 

safe.  Try  it,  and  see,  if  you  don't 
believe  it." 

"  I  have  half  a  mind  to  tell  you ; 
you  could  help  us  first-rate,  and  you 
would,  I  know  you  would." 

"Try  it,  and  see." 

"Will  you  swear  not  to  tell?" 
These  words  had  slipped  from  Tom 
unawares.  He  did  not  mean  to  say 
what  was  wrong,  and  he  was  sorry 
the  moment  he  had  uttered  them. 

"'  Swear  not  at  all,'  "  was  Nancy's 
instant  reply,  tu neither  by  heaven; 
for  it  is  God's  throne :  nor  by  the 
earth ;  for  it  is  his  footstool ;  neither 
by  Jerusalem ;  for  it  is  the  city  of  the 
great  king.  Neither  shalt  thou  swear 
by  thy  head,  because  thou  canst  not 
make  one  hair  white  or  black.' " 

u  Poh,  nonsense,  Nancy ;  you  know 
I  didn't  mean  any  such  swearing.  I 


148  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

should  as  soon  think  of  asking  a  par- 
son to  do  it.  I  only  meant,  say  you 
wont  tell,  certain  true,  black  and 
blue." 

"Well.  Thomas  Cady,  you  are 
making  a  great  fuss  about  a  very 
little  thing ;  but  if  it's  perfectly  cor- 
rect, and  there  ain't  a  jot  of  harm  in 
it  any  way,  I'll  use  my  judgment 
about  keeping  it  to  myself." 

"  Can't  go  um,"  said  Tom,  swing- 
ing up  the  bundles,  which  he  had 
thrown  down  when  first  caught; 
"  you  must  keep  the  girl  at  home  if 
you  have  a  mind  to  spoil  a  lot  of 
good  fun  for  her,  but  I  am  too  old 
a  salt  to  be  caught  sailing  on  that 
sea." 

Now,  this  alternative  had  not  oc- 
curred to  Nancy.  E-achel  had  taken 
so  important  a  part  in  all  the  sports 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       149 

of  the  children  on  the  island  that  it 
had  not  seemed  possible  to  her  that 
ever  Tom  would  think  he  could  do 
without  her,  so  she  watched  him  go 
whistling  away,  expecting  every  mo- 
ment to  see  him  turn  round  and  come 
back,  until  he  was  almost  out  of  hear- 
ing ;  then  she  called  after  him,  "  Tom  ! 
Tom  !  I  say." 

Tom  had  been  expecting  this,  but 
he  pretended  not  to  hear,  and  walked 
steadily  on,  so  Nancy  took  a  few 
quick  steps  after  him,  and  called 
again. 

"That's  it,"  said  Tom  to  himself, 
"  I  shall  have  her  on  my  own  terms 
soon."  So  he  was  deafer  than  ever, 
but  it  all  would  not  do.  Nancy  never 
began  what  she  did  not  mean  to  car- 
ry out,  and  not  to  hear  her  now 

would  have  been  quite  impossible,  so 
10 


150  EACHEL  ;    OK, 

at  last  he  stopped,  and  turned  slowly 
around. 

"  You  calling  me  ?" 

"  I  should  think  you  ears  had 
grown  up.  Where  are  you  going,  I 
say,  and  what  are  you  after  ?" 

"  Will  you  promise  2" 

"  No,  I  wont ;  I  shall  use  my  discre- 
tion about  it." 

"All  one ;  good  morning,"  and  Tom 
lifted  his  cap  with  much  politeness, 
and  was  going  on  again. 

"  Can't  you  stop  a  moment  ?" 

"  No  use.  I  am  very  busy  ;  got  a 
lot  to  do.  I  am  sorry  Rachel  can't 
come ;  I  quite  counted  on  her,  she  is 
so  spry  and  full  of  fun." 

"  Who  says  she  can't  ?" 

"  I  thought  you  did." 

"  I  only  said  I  wouldn't  promise  to 
keep  all  your  nonsense  to  myself." 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      151 

"  One  and  the  same  thing." 

Nancy  was  beginning  to  feel  warm ; 
this  was  a  kind  of  bantering  to  which 
she  was  not  used.  Tom  could  read 
faces  pretty  well  for  a  boy,  and  he  saw, 
as  he  looked  back  at  her,  that  he  had 
gone  far  enough,  so  he  threw  down 
his  bundle  again,  and  running  to  her 
said  good-naturedly,  "  Come,  Nancy, 
now  you  wont  tell,  will  you  ?  'cause 
if  you  do  you  will  spoil  all  our  fun ; 
and  I  should  like  to  have  you  know, 
above  all  things,  you  could  help  us 
in  so  many  ways.  I  am  going  to 
trust  you,  and  if  you  are  trusted,  you 
know,  it  is  i  honor  true,7  and  you  can't 
break  over  it  any  more  than  you  can 
over  a  bounden  promise  any  day." 

"Trust  me,  then." 

"  Yes,  I  will,  and  if  you  peach, 
Nancy,  I  will  never  tell  you  a  secret 


152  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

again  as  long  as  my  name  is  Thomas 
Cady,  nor  will  I  take  Rachel  off  on  a 
frolic  this  whole  summer ;  so  there,  I 
have  you." 

Yes,  he  had,  more  firmly  than  he 
knew.  He  drew  Nancy  behind  a  rock, 
so  that  no  one  could  see  them  from 
the  road,  and  sitting  down,  he  seemed 
to  go  very  fully  into  these  plans  what- 
ever they  were,  and  to  convince  her 
that  nothing  must  be  revealed  to  any 
of  the  grown  people  on  the  island. 
That  Nancy  did  not  think  there 
was  anything  very  wrong  in  what  he 
told  her  we  may  judge  from  the 
hearty  laughs  which  came  from  her 
every  now  and  then,  and  the  promise 
which,  after  all,  she  did  give  in  part- 
ing, that  she  would  not  tell  any  one 
but  Rachel,  and  that  she  would  help 
them  all  she  could. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      153 

Sam  waited  for  her  a  long  time  be- 
hind the  corner  of  the  woodshed. 
He  had  not  walked  to  his  mother's 
with  her ;  she  found  so  much  fault 
with  him  that  he  was  really  afraid  of 
her,  so  he  had  run  home  another 
way.  Now  he  could  not  imagine 
what  could  have  become  of  her.  He 
was  there  still,  watching  and  won- 
dering, when  Tom  came  back  from 
depositing  his  "  traps "  upon  the 
raft. 

When  Nancy  reached  home  she 
found  Eachel  looking  out  of  the  win- 
dow for  her  very  impatiently.  It 
was  Nancy's  business  to  dress  her  and 
read  her  verses  in  her  Bible  with  her 
before  she  left  her  room,  and  now  the 
sun  and  the  birds  had  been  calling 
Rachel,  and  she  had  been  answering 
them  for  what  seemed  to  her  a  very 


154  EACHEL  ;    OB, 

long  time.  Rachel  had  to  shut  the 
gates  behind  the  city  walls  many 
times  while  she  waited.  Impatient 
Temper  was  knocking  very  loudly  to 
come  in,  but  she  kept  all  safe,  and 
though  it  was  a  flushed,  eager  face  that 
rushed  to  meet  Nancy  as  she  opened 
the  door,  there  was  no  more  striking 
or  scratching.  Rachel  now  had  these 
violent  indications  of  her  temper 
quite  under  her  control ;  and  though 
she  sometimes  felt  as  if  it  was  impos- 
sible to  stand  or  sit  still  when  she 
was  boiling  with  anger,  still  she 
found,  in  some  mysterious  way,  that 
it  was  never  so  hard  to-day  as  it  was 
yesterday.  One  by  one  the  upward 
step  now  waiting  to  be  taken  is  all 
the  more  quickly  and  surely  reached 
because  we  have  planted  our  feet 
firmly  on  the  round  just  below.  Nancy 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      155 

saw  at  a  glance  that  Rachel's  city 
was  safe. 

Before  Kachel  left  her  room  Nancy 
had  told  her  the  secret;  not,  we 
would  not  have  our  readers  think  for 
a  moment,  in  violation  of  her  prom- 
ise. No,  indeed ;  Nancy  was  far  too 
noble  and  true  for  that ;  but  Tom  had 
given  her  liberty  not  only  to  tell  Ra- 
chel, but  also  to  make  some  plans 
with  her  for  carrying  out  his  arrange- 
ments. Rachel  was  wild  with  de- 
light ;  she  danced  and  sang,  whispered 
it  to  Dick,  who  came  and  put  his  head 
down  to  the  wires  of  the  cage  to  hear ; 
caught  up  Zaid,  and  told  it  first  into 
one  ear  and  then  into  the  other,  and 
finally  ended  by  looking  very  mysteri- 
ous and  happy  all  the  morning  when 
she  was  with  her  father  and  mother. 

Nancy  had  asked  leave  for  her  to 


156  EACHEL;  OR, 

be  absent  on  a  secret  expedition  all 
day,  and  Mrs.  Tilton  had  readily 
granted  it,  as  she  knew  if  Nancy  ap- 
proved all  was  safe  and  right.  She 
had  a  hint  given  to  her,  too,  that  if 
she  would  neither  seem  to  see  or 
hear,  it  would  add  a  great  deal  to 
the  children's  happiness ;  so  she  was 
very  kindly  deaf  and  blind  to  every- 
thing that  went  on  around,  and 
when  Ernest  and  Alice  came  running 
up  to  the  door  for  Rachel  she  was 
all  ready,  with  a  great  covered  bask- 
et, half  as  large  as  herself.  The 
children  walked  very  demurely  so 
long  as  they  were  in  sight  of  the 
windows  of  the  house,  only  talking 
with  those  looks  and  signs  so  intelli- 
gible among  themselves ;  but  the  very 
moment  they  were  hidden  down  went 
the  basket,  and  they  danced  round 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      157 

it  more  like  a  set  of  Indian  warriors 
than  anything  else.  Alice  wanted  to 
lift  the  cover  and  peep  in,  but  this 
Rachel  shook  her  head  over,  saying 
with  much  authority;.: 

"Wait!  wait!  it  will  be  soon 
enough  when  we  get  there." 

"But  my  mother  didn't  give  me 
half  so  much.  I  will  show  you.  Er- 
nest hid  it  in  the  ship,  so  no  one  need 
suspect.  It  is  only  a  tiny  tin  pailful, 
so  large,"  and  Alice's  hands  measured 
a  supposed  pail  of  all  sizes,  from  three 
inches  up  to  a  foot. 

"  O  Alice !  you  know  it  has  lots  of 
nice  things  in.  I  saw  them  myself," 
said  Ernest. 

"Hush!  don't  tell,"  and  Alice 
raised  her  finger  at  him.  "  Let's  run 
for  it  first ;"  so  Ernest,  taking  hold  of 
one  side  of  Rachel's  basket,  the  three 


158  EACHEL;  OK, 

children  were  soon  on  the  old  wreck. 
Rachel  could  run  up  the  ladder  at  the 
sides  quite  as  nimbly  as  the  boys,  and 
by  this  time  she  had  begun  to  feel  as 
if  it  was  her  ^property  as  much  as 
theirs.  She  had  carried  some  of  her 
prettiest  playthings  there,  and  very 
often,  on  a  warm  summer  morning, 
the  canaries  were  brought  down,  and 
added  a  great  deal  to  its  pleasantness 
with  their  sweet  songs. 

This  morning  the  boys  from  Uncle 
Seth's  were  there  before  them.  Tom 
had  been  making  his  plans  for  a  long 
time,  and,  good  general  that  he  was, 
did  not  mean,  when  the  occasion 
came,  to  be  found  wanting  in  any  of 
the  necessary  supplies.  So  ever  since 
breakfast  Sam  and  Eddy  had  been 
busy  transporting  hidden  stores  from 
their  places  to  the  wreck.  Here 


Loading  the   Raft. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      161 

came  an  old  three-legged  chair,  almost 
as  good  as  new  since  the  wanting  leg 
was  supplied  with  a  round  billet  of 
wood;  then  a  small  table,  with  only 
one  original  support  left,  but  fixed 
upon  a  curiously  shaped  block,  which 
had  been  washed  up,  and  stood  quite 
firmly  if  well  propped ;  but  we  must 
not  anticipate. 

Busy  children  are  always  happy, 
and  almost  always  good.  It  is  only 
for  idle  hands  that  Satan  finds  the 
"  mischief  still ;"  so  you  may  be  sure 
that  these  very  busy  children  were 
also  both  happy  and  good.  Every- 
body was  so  willing  and  obliging,  that 
long  before  they  had  thought  it  pos- 
sible to  be  ready  they  were  formed 
into  a  procession,  and  were  marching 
down  with  their  odd  property  toward 
the  raft,  which  lay  hauled  up  high 


162  RACHEL;  OR, 

and  dry  on  the  shore.  This  raft  was 
now  a  very  nice  bit  of  sea-craft.  The 
sailors  who  saw  it  pronounced  it  a 
much  safer  thing  for  the  children  to 
venture  out  upon  the  water  in  than 
any  "boat,  and  they  had  been  so  in  the 
habit  of  going  and  returning  safely, 
that  their  parents  had  lost  all  fear  of 
accident  if  Tom  were  there  to  act  as 
helmsman.  It  was  carefully  stored 
with  as  many  of  their  commodities  as 
it  could  well  carry,  and  then  came 
the  question,  which  of  the  children 
should  go  over  with  Tom  first?  Of 
course,  every  one  was  eager  to  go ;  and 
here,  at  the  very  beginning,  trouble 
would  have  come,  if  Tom  had  not  in- 
sisted on  his  rights  as  captain  to  make 
his  choice.  He  chose  Ernest  and 
Rachel,  and,  deaf  to  all  complaints 
from  the  others,  rowed  away. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      163 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW      THE      STRENGTH      OF      RACHEL'S 
WALLS   IS   TRIED. 

THE  sea  upon  which  the  raft  was 
sailing  was  delightfully  smooth,  and 
so  blue  and  deep  that  it  made  Rachel 
think  at  once  of  that  beautiful  land 
to  which  Nancy  had  told  her  Zaidee 
was  going.  She  looked  down,  and 
it  seemed  to  her  that  it  was  a  sea  of 
glass,  and  that  beneath  it  were  the 
precious  stones  and  the  houses  of 
.gold  and  the  gates  of  pearl.  She  re- 
membered, too,  what  was  better  than 
this,  that  Nancy  had  said  that  she 
was  one  of  the  children  the  King  had 
placed  in  the  trial-land,  and  she  re- 
solved that  all  the  time  they  were 


164  RACHEL;  OK, 

about  this  pleasant  play  she  would 
try  and  keep  her  city  walls  whole, 
and  have  her  gates  ready  to  move 
quickly  on  their  hinges  and  shut  her 
in.  These  thoughts  did  not  stay 
long  in  Rachel's  mind ;  but  I  need  not 
say  God  sent  them ;  we  all  know 
that. 

They  went  direct,  wind  and  waves 
aiding,  to  a  very  little  island  one 
short  mile  from  the  point  where  they 
had  started.  This  island,  from  being 
so  pretty  and  so  small,  had  always 
been  called  the  "  Children's  Island," 
and  they  felt  as  if  it  belonged  to 
them  as  much  as  the  old  wreck  of 
the  old  ship.  It  was  nothing  more 
than  a  large  rock,  upon  which  the 
\dnds  and  the  waves  had  dropped 
soil  and  seeds,  until  trees  and  shrubs 
had  come  up  and  made  it  quite  a 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       165 

shaded  spot.  The  children  knew 
every  inch  of  it,  and  could  tell  which 
was  the  largest  pine-tree,  where  the 
scrub-oaks  grew  nearest  the  ground, 
and  where,  by  some  odd  freak,  the 
wintergreen  berries  ripened  quickest 
and  sweetest.  They  had  their  port 
here  and  their  wharf,  and  now  they 
had  come  to  take  legal  possession  and 
make  formal  settlement.  The  secret — 
it  will  out,  so  we  may  as  well  take  our 
readers  into  our  confidence  at  once — 
was  to  build  a  sort  of  Robinson 
Crusoe  house,  have  their  church,  their 
school-house,  their  stores ;  in  short,  be 
all  ready  when  Captain  Lee  returned 
(he  was  expected  back  at  the  end  of 
August)  to  give  a  party  for  him,  and 
entertain  him,  as  Tom  said,  "like  a 
prince."  No  one  of  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  families  were  to  be  admitted 


166  EACHEL;  OR, 

into  the  secret;  it  was  to  be  a  sur- 
prise to  all.  Now  any  one  can  see 
that  so  extensive  a  plan  as  this  among 
six  young  children  would  put  them 
all  into  positions  and  circumstances 
that  would  greatly  test  their  charac- 
ter ;  and  so  the  events  proved. 

Ernest  had  learned  to  pull  an  oar 
very  well  for  so  small  a  boy,  and  he 
was  so  much  help  to  Tom  that  in  a 
short  time  they  touched  the  wharf, 
and  with  many  formalities  Tom 
sprang  on  shore,  ran  up  to  the  top 
of  the  rock,  and  swung  out  the  stars 
and  stripes  from  a  pole  put  up  for  the 
occasion.  The  children  on  Nelson's 
Island  saw  it  and  shouted  impatient- 
ly. There  wasn't  one  of  them  but 
would  have  walked  over  the  water 
to  it  if  they  could. 

Eager  children  work  quickly,  and 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.      167 

very  soon  the  raft  was  cleared,  and 
Tom  was  once  more  crossing  the  wa- 
ter. He  wanted  to  bring  over  a  load 
before  he  took  what  he  called  his 
"live  stock,"  but  the  children  would 
not  hear  of  it,  and  with  his  usual 
good-nature  he  carried  them  first. 

Ernest  and  Rachel  had  been  busy 
in  the  mean  time  selecting  a  spot  for 
their  house.  They  played  that  they 
were  an  emigrant  ship,  wrecked,  and 
all  on  board  lost  but  one  man 
(Tom)  and  five  children.  While 
the  man  had  gone  to  the  wreck  to 
bring  off  the  rest  of  the  saved,  it 
was  their  business,  with  all  haste,  to 
provide  the  home. 

Now  about  this  home  there  had 
been  a  variety  of  opinions  expressed 
before  they  started,  some  wanting 

one  spot  chosen,  and  some  another ; 
11 


168  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

but  the  last  thing  Tom  had  said  was 
that  Rachel  might  choose,  and  the 
others  should  abide  by  her  decision. 
So,  now,  Ernest  and  Rachel  were 
busy  exploring,  and  feeling  very  wise 
and  important. 

After  a  thorough  search,  they  de- 
cided upon  two  places.  One,  where 
the  main  rock  upon  which  the  island 
was  founded  ran  up  to  a  point,  and 
just  below  this  point,  upon  which  the 
flag  was  flying,  another  rock  met  it, 
forming  a  snug  sort  of  a  room.  It 
was  nothing  like  a  cave  ;  it  was  rather 
a  large  hollow,  quite  large  enough  to 
hold  the  six  children  at  once,  besides 
a  table,  and  perhaps  a  chair.  This, 
then,  for  the  beginning,  and  for  one 
side  of  the  real  house  they  were  in- 
tending to  build.  The  other  place 
had  in  it  this  morning  what  children 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      169 

all  love  so  well,  bright  sunshine.  It 
was  a  spot  between  four  pine-trees,  all 
nearly  the  same  shape  and  size,  with 
their  broad  arms  meeting  above  and 
making  a  roof.  All  over  the  ground, 
so  smooth  and  slippery  from  the  dead 
leaves  of  the  trees,  the  sunlight  lay  in 
patches ;  beautifully  checkered  it  was, 
almost  as  if  some  fairy  had  begun  to 
pave  it  with  gold.  And  then  they 
could  see  Nelson's  Island  from  the 
front  .door,  a  very  desirable  thing  to 
poor  shipwrecked,  homesick  marin- 
ers. So  Rachel  decided  that  this 
should  be  the  spot,  and  Ernest,  very 
well  pleased,  began  to  drag  thither 
the  articles  from  the  wharf.  By  the 
time  the  raft  had  returned  almost 
everything  had  disappeared  from 
the  landing-place,  and  when  Alice 
came  she  found  Kachel  quite  taking 


170  EACHEL;  OR, 

upon  herself  airs  as   mistress  of  the 
house. 

Alice  had  been,  as  we  know,  with- 
out any  one  to  share  her  pleasures 
until  Ernest  came,  and  we  must  not 
blame  her  too  much  if  she  often 
thought  her  own  way  the  best,  and 
that  everybody  else  should  follow  it. 
She  was  not  naturally  more  selfish 
than  most  other  children,  but  she  had 
never  been  obliged  to  give  up  to  the 
wishes  of  others,  excepting  when  she 
played  with  her  boy  cousins,  and 
then  if  she  was  displeased  she  always 
took  refuge  in  running  home  to  her 
mother.  Since  Ernest  had  been  with 
her  she  loved  him  so  much,  and  he 
was  so  gentle  and  yielding,  that  she 
was  not  really,  in  these  particulars, 
gaining  so  much  from  her  little  new 
brother  as  her  parents  had  hoped. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       171 

But  her  mother  was  very  watchful, 
never  allowing  this  fault  of  hers  to 
pass  under  her  notice  unreproved. 
Since  Rachel  had  been  on  the  island 
she  had  been  obliged  to  see  a  rival 
coming  in  to  do  many  things  which 
had  been  her  sole  right  before. 
Sometimes  she  bore  it  pleasantly, 
and  sometimes  she  sulked,  and  they 
could  not  make  her  join  in  the  play 
again  without  a  great  deal  of  teasing. 
Now  two  things  displeased  her. 
One,  that  Rachel  should  have  been 
brought  over  first,  when  she  wanted 
to  go;  and  another,  that  she  should 
have  been  allowed,  without  her  voice, 
to  choose. the  home.  We  must  say 
we  do  not  think  this  was  quite  fair 
in  Tom.  It  would  have  been  better, 
and  more  in  American  style,  if  they 
had  all  come  together  and  chosen  their 


172 

several  shares  in  the  performances  by 
acclamation  or  by  vote,  or  in  some 
such  impartial  way.  Still  Alice's 
mother  had  always  taught  her  that  it 
was  very  mean  for  one  child  to  spoil 
the  fun  of  all  the  others  because  she 
was  not  satisfied,  and  Alice  had  begun 
to  think  of  it  as  almost  a  sin  to  be 
cross  and  sulky  for  such  a  cause. 
But  how  many  of  us  there  are  who 
determine  not  to  do  this,  that,  and 
the  other  wrong  thing,  but  when  we 
are  tempted  cannot  resist,  and  fall 
very  easy  victims.  So  it  was  with 
Alice  to-day.  That  very  morning, 
when  she  said  her  prayers,  she  had 
asked  God  to  make  her  a  good,  pleas- 
ant little  girl  all  day  long,  to  keep 
her  from  being  selfish,  or  cross,  or 
sulky.  There  was  one  thing  her 
father  had  often  told  both  Ernest  and 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      1Y3 

herself  for  which  they  should  never 
forget  to  pray,  and  this  Alice  remem- 
bered particularly ;  it  was,  that  God 
would  make  them  generous  and  noble 
in  their  plays,  would  make  them  kind 
and  unselfish  with  their  young  friends, 
and  give  them  the  love  of  other  chil- 
dren. «. 

There  are  many  children  who  are 
taught  to  pray  properly  who  still 
remember  only  their  relations  to  God 
in  their  prayers.  They  think  that 
they  are  to  pray  for  the  salvation  of 
their  soul  so  that  they  may  go  to 
heaven.  That  is  right ;  but  they 
should  also  pray  that  they  may  be 
happy,  and  have  a  good  influence 
here  that  may  make  others  happy, 
and  love  and  be  loved.  This  is  an 
important  part  of  our  preparations 
for  that  beautiful  land.  Alice  was 


174      • 

earnest  in  her  intention  to  remember 
all  this  when  she  left  her  room  that 
morning ;  but  how  soon  we  forget. 

When  Tom  landed  the  second  time, 
he  applauded  the  young  workers  very 
heartily  for  what  they  had  done. 
He  said  the  "  house  lot  couldn't  be 
beat,"0and  the  shelving  rocks  were 
meant  for  a  store-house  and  nothing 
more ;  and  even  the  little  cloud,  which 
was  settling  down  over  Alice,  was 
lifted  up  by  a  sight  of  the  cunning 
place  which  was  to  hold  the  "  ten- 
ement." Two  loads  more  of  old 
boards  and  material  needed  for  build- 
ing were  to  be  brought,  and  Tom,  tak- 
ing first  Ernest  and  then  Sam,  went 
over  to  bring  them.  While  they 
were  gone  Alice  and  Rachel  began  to 
plan  out  the  interior  of  the  house, 
dividing  it  into  parlor,  kitchen,  and 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      1^5 

dining-room,  and  one  sleeping-room. 
Now  Rachel  wanted  the  parlor  ar- 
ranged first,  and  Alice  the  kitchen ; 
so  they  had  a  little  dispute  about  it, 
not  a  very  bad  one,  but  enough  to 
throw  a  slight  shadow  over  the 
bright  spots  of  sunshine  on  the  tes- 
selated  ground,  and  it  ended  in  Alice's 
beginning  the  kitchen  with  Eddie  to 
help  her,  while  Rachel  had  Sam  or 
Ernest,  whichever  was  not  on  the 
raft.  This  would  have  done  very 
well,  for  in  case  of  dispute  separation 
is  always  the  wisest  course ;  but  they 
were  both  so  often  wishing  the  same 
thing  that  they  came  into  constant 
collision.  Once  Rachel  grew  so  angry, 
to  see  Alice  snatch  away  a  bit  of  old 
carpet  from  Sam,  saying  that  it  must 
answer  for  a  mat  before  the  kitchen 
door,  while  she  wanted  it  before  the 


176  RACHEL  J    OR, 

parlor  fireplace,  that  she  flew  at  her, 
pulled  the  carpet  away,  and  shook  her 
roughly.  So  when  Tom  came  up 
from  the  raft  with  the  last  load  he 
found  Alice  sitting  at  quite  a  distance 
from  the  house  crying,  and  Rachel, 
with  a  flushed  and  downcast  looking 
face,  moping  about  the  house  as  if  she 
had  lost  every  friend  on  earth. 

"Hey  dey!"  he  said,  stopping 
abruptly ;  "  what  is  to  pay  now  ? 
There  is  always  trouble  in  the  camp 
when  there  are  women  around.  Al- 
ly, what's  the  matter  ?" 

"  She  shook  me,"  said  Ally,  lifting 
her  face,  all  covered  with  tears,  and 
pointing  to  Rachel.  u  I  don't  like 
her  one  bit;  I  wish  she  had  never 
come  here." 

"That's  not  polite,  Miss  Lee.  We 
emigrants  can't  quarrel  among  our- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      177 

selves;  if  we  do  there  will  be  mis- 
chief to  pay.  There  may  be  savages 
here,  who  knows  ?" 

Kachel  thought  at  once  of  her  city 
walls,  and  how  badly  they  were 
broken  down,  all  ready  for  the  sav- 
ages to  enter ;  but  she  was  not  peni- 
tent enough  to  care  now. 

"  Come,"  said  Tom  good-naturedly, 
"  own  up,  Eachel,  what  did  you  shake 
Alice  for  ?  We  are  not  shaking 
Quakers  here." 

"  She  took  it,  and  would  keep 
snatching  it  away  from  Sam.  It's  for 
the  parlor,  and  not  for  the  kitchen 
mat,  and  she  sha'n't  snatch  it." 

"  What !  is  it  that  old  bit  of  carpet 
you  are  quarreling  over?  Well,  here 
goes,"  and  taking  it  up,  Tom  threw  it 
as  far  as  he  could  over  the  water.  It 
spread  itself  out  and  floated  for  a 


178  RACHEL;  OR, 

moment  on  the  top  of  a  wave,  and 
then  slowly  sank  away  from  their 
sight.  Both  children  forgot  every- 
thing else  in  watching  it,  and  Tom 
always  afterward  called  this  his 
"  masterstroke  of  discipline."  "  So  I 
shall  end  all  disputes,"  said  he,  when 
it  was  fairly  gone.  "  Whatever  any- 
body quarrels  about  both  shall  lose, 
and  we  shall  all  lose  it  too,  so  I  think 
the  better  tempers  we  can  keep,  all 
hands  of  us,  the  better  for  our  new 
settlement.  Halloo,  now,  no  more 
playing;  all  hands  to  work  in  earnest. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  build 
the  house,  and  then  we  will  furnish  it 
as  best  we  can.  Here,  Alice,  hold 
this  box  of  nails  ready  for  me  the 
minute  I  want  it.  Now,  Rachel,  go 
with  Ernest,  and  drag  round  that 
pole ;  it  must  be  nailed  across  from 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      1*79 

tree  to  tree  to  form  the  ridge-pole  of 
the  house.  Sam,  find  the  next  long- 
est, and  don't  be  two  minutes  having 
it  here ;  and,  Ed,  you  pick  up  bits 
of  dry  wood  ready  for  the  fire,  by 
which  we  are  going  to  cook  our  din- 
ner. We  must  get  a  house  built  first 
for  fear  of  intruders,  and  then  we 
will  be  ready  for  a  bite." 

Sam  had  already  helped  himself 
out  of  Rachel's  basket  in  a  private 
way;  he  never  saw  the  time  when 
he  would  not  "eat  on  the  sly,"  as 
Tom  said,  if  he  could  get  a  chance. 
Alice's  tears  were  dry.  /  She  felt  a 
great  deal  happier  than  Rachel,  when 
she  went  to  work,  for  Rachel  was 
more  conscious  of  having  done  wrong. 

Before  dinner-time  came  quite  a 
house  was  built.  To  be  sure,  they 
had  not  plank  enough  to  make  the 


180  KACHEL  ;    OB, 

walls  very  close,  but  that  was  not 
necessary;  and  as  for  shutting  the  sun 
out  with  a  roof,  who  would  think  of 
it  for  a  moment  ?  Old  sails  and  the 
comforter  made  the  inside  partition  ; 
and  when  the  fire  was  kindled  in  the 
rude  fireplace,  (which  was  mostly  com- 
posed of  oyster-shells,)  and  a  fish, 
caught  late  the  night  before,  was  laid 
upon  an  old  gridiron  to  broil,  there 
was  not  a  happier  set  of  children  in 
the  world.  Wonderfully  happy  they 
were,  considering  the  loneliness  of 
their  position,  and  the  disputes  with 
which  they  had  begun  the  day. 

Now  came  Nancy's  share  in  the 
enterprise.  When  Rachel's  large 
basket  was  unpacked,  what  a  treasure 
of  good  things  it  contained!  The 
fish  was  "  done  to  a  turn,"  Tom  said ; 
and  though  an  experienced  cook 


The   Picnic  on  the   Island. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       183 

might,  perhaps,  have  thought  one 
part  a  little  too  much  blackened,  and 
the  other  not  quite  done,  still  never 
was  feast  so  delicious  as  this.  The 
dining-room,  with  the  sun  shimmer- 
ing in  between  the  long  needle-like 
leaves  of  the  pine-tree,  and  laying  it- 
self like  a  service  of  gold  all  over  the 
odd  table ;  the  soft  summer  breeze, 
filled  with  life  and  vigor  as  it  came 
to  them  over  the  sparkling  water ;  the 
low  song,  which  the  waves  sang  for 
them,  and  in  whose  chorus  every 
child's  heart  joined ;  the  birds  alight- 
ing on  the  old  limbs  above  their 
heads,  and  peeping  in  with  their 
round  brown  eyes  to  see  what  the  lit- 
tle folks  were  doing,  and  their  own 
good-natured  prattle ;  certainly  fewer 
things  than  these  have  made  children 
happy.  For  a  time  nothing  could 


184  KACHEL;  OR, 

exceed  their  enjoyment.  If  there  had 
been  any  moments  during  the  morn- 
ing when  they  were  questioned  wheth- 
er their  hard  work  "  would  pay,"  they 
were  answered  now.  But,  somehow, 
it  seems  to  be  always  when  we  are 
happiest,  and  least  on  our  guard,  that 
our  temptation  comes.  Among  Nan- 
cy's stores  was  a  nice  supply  of  raisins. 
These,  with  the  greatest  impartiality, 
Rachel  had  counted  out,  laying  an 
equal  share  by  each  plate,  or  rather 
by  every  bit  of  china  which  served 
for  a  plate.  Sam  and  Ernest  sat  side 
by  side,  and  it  was  not  very  long 
before  Sam's  sly  ways  began  to  show 
themselves  in  his  taking  one  raisin 
after  another  from  Ernest's  heap, 
while  all  the  time  he  would  have 
his  head  turned  another  way,  and  be 
talking  very  busily  about  something 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       185 

in  which  Ernest  was  interested.  This 
had  not  been  going  on  long  before 
Rachel  spied  him,  and  the  first  knowl- 
edge he  had  of  the  detection  was  so 
smart  a  blow  upon  his  cheek,  that 
for  a  moment  he  hardly  knew  where 
he  was.  Sam's  temper  was  very 
quick  too,  and  in  another  instant 
he  had  sprung  upon  Rachel,  and  she 
would  have  received  such  a  speedy 
and  severe  punishment  for  her  offense 
as  had  never  been  hers  before  if  Tom 
had  not  seized  the  children  and  held 
them  apart. 

"Hands  off!"  he  said  promptly, 
"  what  is  all  this  row  about  ?  Ra- 
chel, what  did  you  strike  him  for  2" 
And  the  big  boy's  grasp  was  very 
tight  on  Rachel's  arm. 

"  He  was  stealing  Ernest's  raisins," 
said  Rachel,  struggling  to  get  away. 

12 


186  EACHEL   OK, 

"  Well,  what  if  he  was  ?  That  was 
my  business,  not  yours.  The  next 
time  you  lift  your  hand  to  strike  a 
blow  you  shall  be  put  on  board  that 
raft  and  taken  home  before  you  can 
say  Jack  Robinson.  Do  you  hear 
me?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rachel,  yielding  at 
once  to  the  "  powers  that  be." 

"  Well,  then  look  out ;  we  don't  al- 
low fighting  in  any  shape,  getting 
mad,  lying,  stealing,  or  breaking  any 
other  of  the  ten  commandments  in 
our  colony.  The  punishment  in  any 
case  is  instant  exile."  Before  he  had 
finished  this  long  speech  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  drollery  in  Tom's  face, 
which  rather  took  away  from  his  au- 
thority. So  Sam  began  to  rub  his 
cheek  and  act  as  if  he  meant  to  make 
fun  of  the  whole  thing ;  but  he  had 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      187 

"  mistaken  his  man,"  as  Tom  said,  this 
time. 

"  For  you,"  he  said,  dropping  Ra- 
chel's arm  gently  and  taking  Sam  by 
both  arms,  in  the  manner  of  an  ar- 
resting officer,  "  I  arrest  you  for  steal- 
ing and  fighting,  and  condemn  you  to 
banishment  from  our  house  and  work 
for  th%  remainder  of  the  afternoon. 
In  case  of  any  resistance  or  trouble 
on  your  part  I  shall  increase  your 
punishment  as  it  may  seem  best  to 
me,  the  governor,  in  whom  is  vested 
all  legal  authority.  Now  go,  sir ;  I 
confiscate  the  rest  of  your  dinner, 
and  drum  you  out  of  camp."  So  say- 
ing, Tom  took  up  an  old  tin  pail, 
which  had  come  over  to  act  the  part 
of  a  bell,  and  pushing  Sam  out  to 
quite  a  distance  beyond  the  pine- 
trees,  stood  beating  with  a  stick  upon 


188  EACHEL;  OR, 

the  pail  in  a  very  noisy,  provoking 
way. 

Sarn  was  by  no  means  content  to 
go  without  a  struggle.  He  tried  to 
kick  and  snatch  the  pail  away,  and 
failing  in  that,  he  kicked  and  struck 
Tom,  behaving  as  only  a  very  naughty, 
angry  child  can.  But  Tom  was  so 
much  the  stronger  that  it  was  0f  no 
use.  Sam  had  to  take  to  flight,  and 
content  himself  with  firing  back 
stones  from  such  a  distance  as  made 
this  occupation  safe. 

The  children  returned  to  their  din- 
ner after  he  had  gone,  but  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  whole  thing  was  gone  too. 
They  ate  what  remained  in  silence, 
or  in  discussing  what  a  very  naughty 
boy  Sam  was.  It  was  in  vain  that 
the  sun  and  the  ocean,  the  summer 
air  and  the  birds  tried  to  make  them 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      189 

happy.  If  Rachel  had  only  shut  the 
gates  of  her  city  soon  enough,  such  a 
host  of  unhappy  feelings  would  not 
now  have  been  marching  in  over  her 
broken  walls,  and  Sana  would  not 
have  been  sitting,  silent,  sullen,  and 
angry,  out  on  the  rock  behind  the 
house,  wishing  a  great  many  things 
which  would  not  have  entered  into 
his  heart  if  his  city  walls  had  not 
been  so  rudely  assaulted.  Not  that 
we  mean  to  defend  Sam's  meanness 
and  selfishness ;  far  from  it ;  but  we 
want  to  impress  it  upon  our  young 
readers  how  often  a  gap  in  their  own 
city  walls  leads  to  large  rents  and 
fissures  in  the  walls  of  neighboring 
cities. 


190 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SAM'S      PUNISHMENT. 

IT  was  in  vain,  after  these  events, 
that  the  children  tried  to  get  back 
the  fun  and  interest  which  had  made 
their  morning  so  happy.  Sam  hov- 
ered, like  a  discontented  spirit,  with- 
in sight  of  them,  but  never  came  near 
enough  to  need  to  be  sent  away  again. 
Occasionally  he  would  dart  down 
and  take  away  an  article  which  he 
saw  them  about  to  need  in  their 
work,  giving  Tom  a  chase,  and  mak- 
ing him  say  some  quick,  harsh  words, 
for  which  he  felt  immediately  sorry ; 
and  sometimes  Sam  threw  a  stick  of 
wood,  or  a  stone  with  good  aim, 
knocking  down  some  part  of  the 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      191 

building  which  they  had  erected. 
But  this  was  by  no  means  the  worst 
part  of  his  behavior.  He  looked  so 
sullen  that  all  the  sunshine  in  the 
world  could  not  make  the  others  hap- 
py with  that  face  near  them.  Ra- 
chel, too,  had  lost  the  merry  good- 
nature which  added  so  much  to  their 
enjoyment.  She  knew  she  had  done 
wrong,  and  she  was  sorry.  Now,  if 
being  sorry  would  only  do  away  the 
past,  how  well  it  would  be  for  us  ;  or, 
perhaps,  not  so  well  after  all,  for 
God  has  ordered  these  things  just  as 
they  shall  work  out  for  us  our  pres- 
ent and  eternal  good  ;  and  he  knows 
that  if  feeling  regret  could  do  away 
a  sin,  we  should  none  of  us  be  half 
so  careful  to  abstain  from  evil.  It  is 
the  dread  of  consequences  not  to 
be  remedied,  that  he  has  given 


192  EACHEL;  OR, 

as  a  warning  to  keep  us  from  doing 
wrong. 

Rachel  would  have  done  anything 
in  her  power  to  have  Sam  back  with 
them,  to  hear  his  happy  laugh,  and 
see  his  handy,  helpful  ways ;  but 
nothing  that  she  could  do  would 
avail,  and  she  missed  him  so  much. 
If  it  had  been  a  case  where  she  had 
not  been  the  first  offender,  she  would 
have  begged  Tom  to  let  him  return ; 
but  now  she  did  not  dare  to;  and 
Tom  answered  so  savagely  when  Er- 
nest asked  for  him,  that  it  took  away 
what  little  courage  she  had. 

In  truth  Sam,  by  his  continued  at- 
tacks upon  the  camp,  was  preventing 
any  leniency  which  Tom  might  have 
been  inclined  to  show.  The  after- 
noon, under  such  circumstances,  would, 
of  course,  be  long  and  rather  dull ; 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       193 

the  life  and  spirit  of  the  whole/thing 
had  died  out,  and  if  we  must  confess 
what  we  think  to  be  the  real  reason, 
we  should  be  obliged  to  say  that  it 
was  because  Rachel  had  not  kept  her 
city  walls.  Twice,  to-day,  they  had 
been  invaded  and  had  fallen. 

By  the  time  the  sun  began  to  go 
down  toward  the  western  sea  the 
children  were  thinking  often  of  home, 
and  wishing  they  were  there.  Yet 
they  looked  with  a  great  deal  of 
pride  and  pleasure  upon  their  day's 
work.  It  was  a  very  pretty  spot ;  any 
one  would  have  known  that  children's 
hands  had  built  it.  It  looked  like  a 
big  baby-house,  much  more  than  like 
the  home  of  shipwrecked  manners, 
but  that  was  just  as  well ;  it  was 
right  pleasant  and  taking,  what  more 
could  they  ask. 


194  RACHEL  J    OR, 

Alice  was  the  first  one  to  express  a 
wish  to  go  home.  She  had  not  been 
quite  comfortable  since  her  shaking 
in  the  morning,  though  she  had  tried 
many  times  during  the  day  to  be  gen- 
erous, unselfish,  and  to  make  the  oth- 
ers happy,  as  she  had  asked  God  to 
help  her  to  do  in  the  morning.  Al- 
ice, you  see,  knew  that  prayer,  true 
prayer,  is  not  only  asking  sincerely, 
but  trying  to  carry  out  what  you  have 
asked  for.  She  was  made  still  more 
uneasy  by  Rachel's  quarrel  with  Sam, 
and  now,  tired  and  homesick,  she  be- 
gan to  long  for  her  home  and  her 
mother,  with  a  desire  far  greater  than 
that  of  finishing  the  school-house  up- 
on which  they  were  busy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Tom,  when  Eddy  join- 
ed with  her  ;  "  yes,  yes,  I  am  as  tired 
as  a  whipped  dog.  I  tell  you  what, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      195 

Ernest,  if  this  is  play  I  don't  know 
what  work  is.  I  have  heard  Uncle 
William  say,  when  I  have  been  build- 
ing some  of  what  he  calls  my  air-castles, 
about  being  captain  one  day  of  the 
handsomest  ship  of  the  line  that  ever 
sailed  from  Boston  harbor,  '  Uneasy 
lies  the  head  that  wears  a  crown,' 
and  if  every  governor  has  such  a  tug 
as  I  have  had  to-day,  here  is  one  fel- 
low who  wont  run  for  'the  chief 
honor  in  his  state '  for  some  years 
yet,  I  can  tell  you.  Come,  we  will 
make  snug,  and  be  off  in  fifteen  min- 
utes. All  hands,  ahoy!  Man  the 
ship.  Spread  the  sails.  Hoist  the 
anchor.  Three  cheers  for  port." 

With  scarcely  less  enthusiasm  than 
they  had  shown  in  the  "  dew  of  the 
morning,"  the  children  were  now 
busy  putting  up  things  in  such  a 


196  RACHEL  ;    OK, 

way  that  no  intruders  should  <L> 
them  harm  during  their  night's  ab- 
sence, for  they  were  to  return  early 
in  the  morning.  They  had  many  a 
day's  work  before  them  yet  to  make 
the  necessary  preparations  for  the 
grand  party. 

While  they  were  thus  occupied, 
Sam,  who  had  become  very  restless, 
from  being  so  long  shut  out  by  him- 
self, came  near  where  they  were,  to 
put  in  execution  his  final  piece  of 
mischief.  He  had  determined  to 
creep  in  at  the  kitchen-door  and 
tear  down  the  partitions,  throwing 
them  in  a  heap  in  the  middle  of  the 
parlor,  where  they  should  astonish 
the  others  on  their  return  to-morrow, 
and  make  them  think  some  persons 
with  evil  intent  had  been  on  the 
island.  This  he  succeeded  in  accom- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       197 

plishing  unseen.  The  partitions  were 
not  firmly  fixed,  and  they  yielded  eas- 
ily. Laughing  with  much  revenge- 
ful enjoyment  over  what  he  had  done, 
he  came  down  boldly  to  the  wharf, 
to  sail  with  the  others  for  home. 
But,  unfortunately,  Torn  had  return- 
ed for  a  moment  to  the  house,  and 
seeing  the  mischief  which  had  been 
done,  knew  at  once  who  was  its  au- 
thor ;  so,  without  saying  a  word,  he 
went  back  to  the  raft,  saw  one  child 
after  another  seated  upon  it,  and 
whenever  Sam  tried  to  go  he  held 
him  back.  When  all  were  on  board 
he  sprang  quickly  on  himself,  and  as 
he  pushed  off,  leaving  Sam  stand- 
ing surprised  on  the  wharf,  he  called 
out, 

"We   shall   leave   you    here,    sir, 
until  to-morrow;  you  will  have  the 


198  RACHEL;  OE, 

whole  night  to  put  those  partitions 
back ;  and  I  advise  you  to  go  to 
work  and  do  as  much  as  you  can  be- 
fore dark." 

Everybody  thought  Torn  was  in 
fun,  and  the  children  laughed  at  the 
joke  of  being  left,  to  which  in  one 
way  and  another  they  were  all  accus- 
tomed ;  but  Sam  had  a  slight  feeling 
of  fear  mingling  with  his  sense  of  the 
fun. 

How  quick  Tom  had  found  him 
out,  and  how  determined  he  looked 
at  him  from  under  his  cap.  Still, 
Sam  made  his  mind  up  not  to  take 
the  thing  seriously ;  so  he  waved  his 
cap  back  to  them,  and  wished  them 
good-night,  with  as  great  an  appear- 
ance of  unconcern  as  he  could.* 

There  he   stood,  the   raft  leaving 

*See  Frontispiece. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      199 

more  and  more  blue  water  between 
them  every  moment ;  how  blue  amd 
deep  it  was.  Sam  looked  down  into 
it,  earnestly  wishing  he  could  run 
over  it  and  catch  the  raft  before  it 
was  any  further  away.  On  it  went, 
until  it  seemed  like  a  speck  on  the 
waters.  Once  in  a  while  he  could 
Ernest  would  stand  up  and  wave 
his  cap,  and  Sam  always  waved  his 
in  return,  but  he  saw  no  sign  of 
their  turning  around.  The  white  sail 
curved  charmingly  in  the  evening 
breeze ;  but  it  was  filled  toward  home, 
and  thither,  too,  the  rudder  unswerv- 
ingly steered. 

"  When  are  you  going  back  ?"  said 
Ernest  at  last,  thinking  the  joke  had 
been  carried  far  enough. 

"  To-morrow  morning,"  replied 
Tom. 


200  KACHEL;  OR, 

The  children  all  laughed,  and  the 
raft  danced  on. 

"  I  say,  Tom,  don't  keep  Sam  wait- 
ing there  any  longer ;  you  will  get  us 
all  late  home,  and  mother  will  be  anx- 
ious about  Ally,"  said  Ernest  again. 

"Have  you  there  in  ten  minutes, 
or  less." 

"  Why,  no,  you  can't,  it  will  take 
that  time  to  tack  her  round,  and 
bring  her  along  side  Sam." 

"  Sam  will  stay  some  time  before 
the  raft  comes  along  side  of  him." 

"You  don't  mean,  Tom,"  said  Al- 
ice eagerly,  "  that  you  are  going  to 
leave  Sam  there  alone  on  that  island 
all  night  ?" 

"  I  mean  that  I  shall  not  take  this 
raft  across  again  to-night,  and  that, 
if  Sam  has  all  night  to  learn  to  mend 
in,  he  probably  will  have  his  lesson 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      201 

well  committed  by  to-morrow  morn- 
ing." 

"That  aint  fair,"  said  Alice. 

"  Who  says  it  isn't  fair  ?"  said  Tom, 
lowering  down  upon  her. 

"I  say  so;  don't  you  too,  Ra- 
chel 8" 

"  I  do,"  said  Ernest,  without  wait- 
ing for  Rachel  to  answer ;  "  and  if  I 
was  only  a  little  bigger  I  would  go 
over  to  the  island  myself  and  bring 
him  home." 

"If  is  a  great  word,"  said  Tom 
scornfully.  "  Little  Hop-o'-my-thumb 
needn't  brag." 

"You  are  mean,"  said  Rachel, 
breaking  in. 

"  You  don't  say  so.  Well,  now,  do 
tell !"  and  Tom's  voice  was  very  pro- 
voking. 

"You    are,   too,"    shouted    Eddy 

13 


202  RACHEL;  OR, 

"  and  I  will  tell  mother  the  very  mo 
ment  I  get  home." 

"  Go  it,  young  one  ;  do  you  want  a 
ducking?1'  and  Tom  held  his  hands 
toward  Eddy,  as  if  he  meant  to  throw 
him  in,  so  Eddy  shrank  close  to  Er- 
nest's side. 

"  Let  him  alone,"  said  Ernest  in  a 
manly  way.  "  Look  here,  Mr.  Tom, 
you  think,  because  you  are  big,  you 
can  do  as  you  have  a  mind  to ;  but  I 
think  it  is  very  mean  in  you,  as  Ra- 
chel says,  to  be  bullying  little  fellows 
so,  and  when  I  grow  larger  I  will 
settle  with  you  for  it,  you  see  if  I 
don't." 

Torn  laughed  again ;  but  in  hi? 
heart  he  was  too  good-natured  to  like 
to  have  the  others  all  against  him.  He 
was  vexed  with  Sam,  and  doubtful  as 
to  the  brotherly  character  of  the  act 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      203 

of  leaving  him  alone.  There  is  never 
a  time  when  we  can  bear  so  little 
from  others  as  when  we  are  not 
sure  of  ourselves.  They  were  now 
half  way  between  the  island  and 
home,  and  Tom  had  for  a  moment 
some  idea  of  taking  the  whole  party 
off  to  Egg  Island  or  the  Light-house 
as  a  punishment.  But  we  must  do 
him  the  justice  to  say  that  this 
thought  was  but  momentary,  and  that 
his  better  nature  triumphed  quickly, 
so  he  set  his  teeth  tight  together,  (a 
way  of  doing  that  he  had  when  he 
wanted  to  control  himself,)  and  with 
a  few  strong  strokes  of  the  oars  sent 
the  raft  rapidly  toward  home. 

Eddy  began  to  cry,  so  did  Alice ; 
but  it  was  of  no  use,  the  raft  touched 
the  shore.  Tom  sprang  off,  fastened 
it,  and  without  speaking  a  word  to 


204  EACHEL;  OR, 

any  one  went  away  by  himself,  but 
not  toward  home. 

"  I  say  it's  a  shame ;  I'll  go  right 
home  to  mother." 

"And  so  will  I,"  sobbed  Eddy; 
"she  will  make  him  go  back  quick, 
you  see  if  she  don't,  double  meter,  I 
can  tell  you?  And  little  Eddy,  un- 
der the  wing  of  his  mother's  authori- 
ty, seemed  to  himself  to  have  sud- 
denly grown  quite  large. 

"  And  my  mother  will  say  it's  aw- 
ful cruel  in  him;  and  there  is  poor 
Sam  all  alone,  frightened  most  to 
death,  I  know  he  is;"  and  Alice 
cried  harder  than  ever. 

Ernest  had  not  left  the  raft;  he 
stood  by  it  wondering  if  he  would 
not  be  able  to  loosen  and  take  it  over 
himself  for  Sam ;  but  his  mother  had 
expressly  forbidden  his  venturing  up- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      205 

on  the  water  alone  until  he  became 
older,  and  when  he  remembered  this 
he  knew  it  was  useless  for  him  to  ask 
permission. 

Rachel  would  have  seemed,  to  any 
one  who  did  not  know  her,  almost 
unconcerned  about  what  had  taken 
place ;  but  those  who  did  know  her 
could  have  seen,  from  the  flash  of  her 
eyes,  and  her  tight  suppressed  lips, 
that  she  was  trying  to  keep  down  her 
temper,  to  shut  the  gates  while  there 
was  time.  Perhaps  she  was  helped 
in  all  this  by  the  feeling  which  there 
was  at  the  bottom  of  her  heart  that 
she  had  been  the  occasion  of  all  the 
trouble.  Poor  Rachel  has  many  hard 
lessons  to  learn,  but  in  after  life  she 
looked  back  to  this,  in  which  she  had 
made  so  many  persons  unhappy,  as 
one  of  the  very  hardest  of  them  all, 


206  RACHEL;  OB, 

She  did  not  like  to  go  home.  To  tell 
her  mother  that  Sam  was  left  would 
be  to  confess  all  that  she  had  done. 
She  would  get  no  pity  from  Nancy ; 
indeed,  she  dreaded  the  shake  of  her 
head,  and  the  blame  she  would  re- 
ceive from  her,  more  than  anything 
she  expected  from  her  mother.  What 
could  be  done  ?  who  would  help  her  ? 
The  other  children,  thinking  more 
of  Sam  than  of  her  trouble,  left  her 
standing,  looking  out  over  the  sea  with 
a  very  sad  face.  So  she  found  her- 
self alone,  with  only  that  dismal,  dis- 
mal moaning  that  the  ocean  made  as 
it  broke  upon  the  shore.  Rachel 
here,  and  Sam  on  the  island,  were  at 
the  same  moment  listening  to  it,  and 
with  feelings  not  dissimilar.  Sam 
had  not  believed  that  they  would 
really  leave  him  until  the  raft  was 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.      207 

fairly  out  of  sight ;  then  he  began  to 
call,  louder  and  louder,  as  there  was 
less  probability  of  his  receiving  an 
answer,  until,  frightened  by  the  sound 
of  his  own  voice,  he  stopped,  looked 
around  him  timidly,  and  at  last  began 
to  cry.  With  the  first  burst  of  tears 
all  his  angry,  sullen  feelings  left  him, 
and  fear  and  loneliness  gradually  took 
entire  possession  of  him.  By  the  time 
the  raft  had  reached  home,  and  the 
children  had  landed,  Sam  would  have 
been  willing  to  say  anything  in  the 
way  of  promise  for  the  future,  or 
amendment  for  the  past,  if  it  had 
been  possible ;  but,  alas !  it  was  now 
too  late.  It  was  yet  broad  daylight, 
or  the  rays  of  the  sun  were  only  begin- 
ning to  fade,  still  Sam  was  very  con- 
scious of  every  change  in  the  light. 
The  dark  pines  looked  darker ;  they 


208  RACHEL;  OR, 

sang  from  under  their  boughs  a  loud- 
er, sadder  song,  and  the  ocean,  how  it 
did  moan,  moan,  moan ! 

It  is  never  pleasant  to  hear  of  a 
frightened  child,  so  we  will  leave 
Sam  standing  there,  screaming  and 
crying  by  turns,  calling  in  vain, 

"Tom!  Tom!  Tom!  if  you  will 
only  come  back  for  me  I  never  will 
do  so  again. 5> 

While  Rachel  at  last  goes  sorrow- 
fully home,  Eddy  finds  his  mother 
and  tells  her ;  but  she  only  regards  it 
as  one  of  Tom's  tricks,  and  thinks  he 
is  already  on  his  way  to  bring  Sam 
back,  so  she  does  not  trouble  herself 
about  it.  Alice  and  Ernest  meet 
their  mother  coming  for  them,  and 
though  she  thinks  Tom  too  arbitrary, 
still  she  blames  Rachel,  and  hopes  a 
hard  lesson  will  do  Sam  good.  She, 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      209 

too,  thinks  Tom  has  gone  back,  and 
expects  every  moment  to  hear  the 
boys'  voices  as  they  come  walking 
past  her  house  together.  So  Alice 
and  Ernest  are  comforted,  and  after  a 
hearty  supper,  and  a  pleasant  even- 
ing talk  with  their  dear  mother,  they 
go  to  bed  and  forget  poor  desolate 
Sam.  Not  so  Eachel,  though  of  her 
experience  we  must  tell  in  another 
chapter. 


210  RACHEL  ;    OR, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

RACHEL'S    REPENTANCE. 

IT  was  so  late  when  Rachel  opened 
the  front  gate  that  she  found  Nancy 
standing  on  the  door  steps  waiting 
for  her,  and  her  mother  called  as 
soon  as  she  heard  her,  to  know  if 
anything  had  happened. 

Rachel  hardly  knew  what  answer 
to  make ;  she  knew  her  mother  meant 
to  inquire  if  there  had  been  any  ac- 
cident. There  certainly  had  not, 
but  still  there  was  so  much  wrong 
that  Nancy  noticed  the  hesitation 
in  her  "No,  mamma,'1  and  determ- 
ined "to  go  to  the  bottom  of  the 
matter"  before  she  allowed  Rachel 
to  go  to  sleep.  Now,  therefore,  she 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.        211 

petted  the  child  in  her  usual  way, 
gave  her  the  delicacies  which  she  had 
been  keeping  for  her  supper,  and  was 
so  kind  and  gentle  with  her  that  Ra- 
chel could  hardly  keep  from  bursting 
into  tears  several  times.  Nancy  no- 
ticed all  these  marks  of  emotion, 
and  felt  the  more  confirmed  in  her 
opinion. 

As  it  grew  dusk,  a  child  came 
running  in  from  one  of  the  fisher- 
men's huts  to  say  that  his  mother  was 
very  sick  and  wanted  Nancy,  whose 
knowledge  of  medicine  made  her  in 
great  request  among  the  poor  people 
on  the  island.  Nancy  forgot  every- 
thing else  in  her  kind  desire  to  take 
with  her  all  that  might  be  needed, 
and  hurried  away,  entirely  forgetting 
her  doubts  of  Rachel. 

Rachel  watched  her  until  she  was 


212  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

out  of  sight,  and  then  very  quickly 
resolved  to  do  what  she  had  wished, 
but  had  hitherto  no  idea  of  being 
able  to  perform.  There  was  no  rest 
for  her  at  home.  At  the  full  table  her 
supper,  hungry  as  she  was,  had  been 
taken  with  difficulty.  Sam  constantly 
hovered  near  her,  not  visibly,  my 
young  reader ;  it  would  have  been  a 
great  comfort  to  her  if  he  had  done  so ; 
but  still  he  was  there,  almost  as  real- 
ly, for  he  was  never  out  of  her  mind. 
She  seemed  to  see  him  as  he  stood  on 
the  wharf  waving  his  cap  to  them. 
What  was  he  doing  now  ?  Where  was 
his  supper  ?  Was  he  afraid  there  all 
alone  ?  Would  Tom  go  for  him  ? 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  many 
questions  which  she  kept  constantly 
asking  herself,  or  rather  which  her 
conscience  asked  her.  Rachel's  con- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      213 

science  was  beginning  to  be  the  mayor 
of  her  city,  and  took  her  to  task  for 
everything  that  disturbed  or  destroy- 
ed its  peace.  Now  it  told  her  that 
she  was  the  real  cause  of  all  Sam's 
trouble;  not  that  Sam  himself  had 
not  been  to  blame,  but  she  should 
have  taken  another  and  a  gentler 
method  of  reproving  him.  If  she 
could  only  persuade  Tom  to  go  back 
for  him  what  would  she  not  do,  what 
would  she  not  give  him !  Rachel 
was  very  much  puzzled ;  she  thought 
over  every  treasure  she  possessed 
in  the  world.  There  were  her  dolls ; 
there  was  Ella,  the  darling,  with  eyes 
that  would  open  and  shut,  he  should 
have  her;  or  Sue,  made  of  rubber, 
able  to  cry  almost  like  a  real  child. 
Yes,  she  would  take  them  both  and 
give  him  his  choice,  if  he  would  only 


214        .       RACHEL;  OF, 

go  back  and  bring  Sam  home.  She 
ran  to  her  play-room,  and  had  both 
dolls  hidden  under  her  cape,  when 
she  remembered  hearing  Tom  laugh 
at  Eddy  for  playing  with  Alice's  dolls, 
and  call  him  "girl-boy;"  what  should 
he  want  of  them  himself?  She  put 
them  gladly  by,  for  she  loved  them 
dearly,  and  it  was  very  hard  to  think 
of  parting  with  them  ;  but  conscience 
told  her  that,  next  to  being  sorry,  try- 
ing to  make  amends  was  the  quickest 
and  surest  way  of  repairing  broken 
walls.  The  reparation,  or  sacrifice  on 
her  part  for  the  sake  of  making 
amendment,  was  giving  up  her  dolls  ; 
but  if  Tom  did  not  want  them,  and 
would  only  laugh  at  her  if  she  offer- 
ed them  to  him,  why,  then,  they  were 
safe,  and  they  might  really  be  hers 
still. 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALLS.      215 

Books?  She  had  already  quite  a 
library,  which  her  parents  had  given 
her ;  but  these  Tom  called  u  girl's 
trash."  He  had  said  that  very  day, 
when  she  was  telling  the  other  chil- 
dren a  story  she  had  just  read,  that 
he  didn't  see  any  fun  in  such  young 
stuff.  When  he  heard  stories  he 
wanted  them  to  be  something  with  a 
snapper  to  them;  something  about 
shipwrecks,  pirates,  going  to  sea,  or 
seeing  new  countries.  He  wouldn't 
give  a  fig  for  your  home  stories  about 
good  and  bad  children ;  he  had  quite 
enough  of  them  every  day  of  his 
life.  All  this  had  made  quite  an 
impression  upon  Rachel  as  he  said  it, 
and  now  it  made  the  handsome  rows 
of  blue,  crimson,  and  gilt  books  look 
quite  insignificant  to  her  anxious  eyes. 

While  she  was  in  this  dilemma  her 


216  RACHEL;  OR, 

canaries  began  to  sing.  O  dear,  if 
she  only  could !  The  thought  left 
her  eyes  full  of  tears.  Could  she 
give  him  Nellie  ?  She  didn't  sing  so 
much  as  Dick,  and  would  not  be 
quite  so  sadly  missed.  But  then 
there  were  the  cunning  eggs,  and  by 
and  by,  Nancy  said,  Nell  would  have 
some  little  tiny  birds  to  take  care  of. 
Dear  me !  no ;  Tom  would  like  them. 
He  came  almost  every  day  to  see 
them,  and  hear  them  sing ;  but  she 
could  not,  could  not ;  and  Rachel's 
tears  streamed  down  so  fast  that  they 
quite  hid  the  cage  from  her  view. 

"The  dearer  you  love  them  the 
more  reparation  you  will  make,"  said 
her  conscience. 

"  Dear !  dear !  dear  I"  said  Rachel, 
wringing  her  hands,  "  I  can't,  I  can't, 
O  dear,  I  can't !" 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      21  *T 

"Then  you  are  not  truly  sorry," 
Baid  that  troublesome  conscience 
again.  "  If  you  were,  you  would  be 
willing  to  give  anything  to  get  Sam 
safely  home." 

"  I  am  sorry,  I  am ;"  and  I  am 
afraid  if  conscience  had  been  a 
child  standing  by  Rachel's  side,  not- 
withstanding her  sorrow,  she  felt  so 
troubled  at  the  thought  of  parting 
with  her  birds  she  might  have  easily 
repented  of  the  offense  of  growing 
angry  and  striking  the  child. 

"  There,"  said  conscience  promptly, 
"  don't  you  see  you  are  only  sorry  for 
Sam's  suffering  and  not  because  you 
did  wrong  ?  You  feel  as  if  it  was 
mean  in  you  to  be  so  comfortable  here 
while  he  is  there  all  alone.  You  re- 
gret this  more  than  you  do  your  sin." 

"  O  I  don't,  I  don't,"  groaned  Ra- 

14 


218  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

chel,  soothing  herself  down;  "what 
shall  I  do  ?  I  can't  do  right  any  way, 
and  I  can't  part  with  ray  birds,  and  1 
can't  have  poor  Sam  there  alone  all 
the  long,  long  night.  O  I  am  so  un- 
happy !" 

"  You  must  give  up  your  birds,  then, 
that  will  make  you  happier  at  once. 
Try  it  and  see." 

"  Will  it  ?"  and  Kachel  lifted  up  her 
head  and  looked  again  toward  the 
cage.  Nell  was  putting  her  head  far 
out  between  the  wires,  chirping  in 
her  pretty  way,  as  if  she  wanted  to 
ask  what  made  her  young  mistress  so 
sad,- and  Dick,  standing  on  one  foot, 
was  singing  his  evening  song.  She  re- 
membered how  often  Nancy  had  told 
her  this  was  a  way  God  had  given 
the  birds  of  saying  their  prayers  ;  and 
she  wished  Dick  only  knew  how 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      219 

wrong  she  had  acted,  and  would  ask 
God  to  forgive  her,  and  bring  Sam 
home  without  any  more  trouble  to 
her,  or  without  making  her  think  she 
ought  to  give  up  her  birds.  While 
Rachel  was  going  through  all  this 
discipline,  which  was  a  part  of  what 
God  had  assigned  to  her  in  this  trial- 
world,  it  was  fast  growing  dark  out 
of  doors.  Her  mamma  had  friends 
from  Boston  staying  with  her,  and 
she  was  busy  with  them  in  the  par- 
lor. On  such  occasions  Rachel  had 
generally  gone  with  Nancy  to  see  the 
sick  person,  and  Mrs.  Tilton,  knowing 
that  Nancy  was  away,  and  not  seeing 
Rachel,  supposed  she  had  gone  too, 
so  the  child  was  left  to  do  as  she 
pleased.  It  was  against  her  mother's 
express  command  that  she  should 
leave  the  yard  after  dark.  Never 


220  EACHEL  ;  OR, 

having  been  near  the  sea  before,  Ra- 
chel had  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  go  home  and  be  shut  up  in  the 
house  while  it  was  calling  her  from* 
the  beach  within  sight  of  her  bed- 
room window.  So  when  they  first 
came  to  the  island  she  had  left  home 
at  a  late  hour  without  leave,  and  after 
some  anxious  search  she  had  been 
found  on  the  shore,  sitting  to  watch 
the  stare  come  up  out  of  the  sea.  At 
that  time  her  mother  forbade  her 
going  out  again  after  tea  unless  she 
was  with  Nancy. 

We  must  do  Rachel  the  justice  to 
say  that  in  the  hurry  and  trouble  of 
her  feelings  she  forgot  this,  and  it  is 
always  so.  One  sin  makes  way  for 
so  many  others.  The  saying  is  that 
"  misery  loves  company,"  and  I  think 
it  is  so  with  sins.  You  give  one  ad- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      221 

tnittance  and  another  is  sure  to  fol- 
low. This  is  an  important  thing, 
which  I  very  much  wish  to  make  im- 
pressive. You  may  think  that  this 
one  little  thing  which  you  are  about 
to  do  is  so  very  little  that  it  is  quite, 
unimportant.  Far  from  it ;  this  little 
thing  is  hand  in  hand  with  another, 
perhaps  a  greater,  and  you  cannot 
tell  where  or  how  the  harm  will  end. 
Rachel  saw  now  that  it  was  fast 
growing  dark.  Whatever  she  did 
must  be  done  quickly.  At  this  mo- 
ment Zaid  came  in  at  the  door,  and 
seeing  her  began  to  purr  very  loudly, 
in  order  to  say  how  glad  she  was  to 
see  her  after  her  long  absence.  She 
came  to  her,  rubbed  her  soft  white 
sides  against  her,  lifted  her  tail,  as  if 
asking  her  to  use  it  for  a  handle  and 
take  her  into  her  arms,  and  stared  up 


222  RACHEL  ;    OR, 

into  her  face  with  her  green  cat's 
eyes  with  as  intelligent  a  look  as  a 
kitten  can  well  have. 

"  O  Zaid !  Zaid  !  you  will  do,  I 
know  you  will,  you  darling,  precious, 
precious  kit;"  and  Rachel  caught 
her  up,  covered  her  with  kisses,  and 
hugged  her  so  close  that,  in  spite  of 
her  unwillingness  to  hurt  her  little 
mistress,  she  had  to  put  out  a  pretty 
sharp  claw  in  self-defense  ;  but  Rachel 
did  not  feel  it.  She  would  not  give 
herself  a  minute  in  which  to  think; 
Tom  should  have  Zaid  all  his  own, 
she  never  would  ask  him  to  give  it 
back ;  he  might  take  it  home  and  keep 
it  forever  if  he  only  would  go  for  poor 
Sam.  Going  out  at  the  garden  gate, 
she  ran  off  with  all  speed,  carrying 
Zaid  toward  the  spot  where  the  raft 
was  moored.  She  had  not  thought 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      223 

but  that  Tom  would  be  waiting  for 
her ;  but  when  she  found  only  the 
lonely  shore,  and  the  raft  dancing  up 
and  down  on  the  water,  she  felt  dis- 
appointed. Where  was  he?  how 
could  she  waste  the  time  to  hunt  him 
up  ?  and  the  light  in  the  western  sky 
was  fading  out  fast,  she  saw  that 
plainly.  No  child  stops  to  think 
long  when  it  has  anything  to  do ;  cer- 
tainly Rachel  did  not  now.  Zaid 
mewed  most  emphatically  several 
times  to  tell  her  that  she  was  hurting 
her ;  but  it  did  not  matter,  she  hard- 
ly heard  her ;  it  was  only  of  finding 
Tom  that  she  thought.  She  was  go- 
ing to  his  house,  running  very  fast, 
and  out  of  breath,  when  he  called 
her.  He  had  not  dared  to  go  home, 
for  he  very  well  knew  if  he  did  that  his 
mother  would  send  him  back  at  once 


224  RACHEL;  OR, 

for  Sam ;  and  though,  in  truth,  he 
meant  to  return,  yet  he  did  not  wish 
to  do  so  until  he  had  given  Sam  a 
good  fright,  which  would  make  him 
more  manageable  for  the  future.  So 
he  had  staid  around  in  the  woods, 
where  he  thought  he  should  not  be 
very  likely  to  be  found.  And  in 
order  to  make  good  his  words  that 
the  raft  should  not  go  back  to  the 
island  to-night  he  intended  to  take  the 
boat,  which,  though  old,  (his  father 
had  taken  the  new  one,)  was  sound 
and  sea- worthy,  if  well-managed.  His 
mother  never  liked  to  have  him  use 
this ;  Tom  knew  it,  and  as  he  loved 
his  mother,  he  almost  always  did,  in 
this  respect,  as  she  wished.  But  Tom 
had  been  hasty,  and  acted  unkindly 
to-night,  and,  as  we  have  already  said, 
it  is  the  way  things  always  go ;  after 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      225 

sin  some  other  wrong  act  follows. 
When  he  saw  Rachel  he  wondered 
where  she  could  be  going  at  such 
an  unusual  hour,  and  what  for,  and  it 
was  his  curiosity  that  made  him  stop 
her. 

"  O  Tom,"  she  said,  u  are  you  here  ? 
I  am  so  very,  very  glad.  Here  is 
Zaid,  and  you  may  have  her  for  your 
own  if  you  will  go  right  over  and 
bring  Sam  home." 

So  great  had  been  Rachel's  sacri- 
fice ;  so  fast  had  her  heart  beaten,  as 
she  had  pressed  Kitty  against  it  as 
she  came ;  so  many  tears  were  waiting 
all  ready  to  flow,  that  she  spoke  very 
indistinctly,  and  Tom  could  not  tell 
what  she  was  saying,  until  he  peeped 
into  the  bundle,  which  was  wrapped 
up  in  the  corner  of  her  cape,  and  saw 
the  white  kitten. 


226  RACHEL  ;  OR, 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
that  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Give  her  to  you,  if  you  will  only 
bring  Sam  home." 

What  a  loud,  hearty  laugh  Tom 
laughed  ;  it  really  frightened  Rachel, 
so  that,  excited  as  she  was,  she  began 
to  tremble. 

"  I  wouldn't  give  a  copper  for  all 
the  kittens  there  are  on  Nelson's 
Island,"  he  said  bluntly.  "  Now,  if 
it  was  a  pup  you  might  hire  me; 
but  a  cat,  what  on  earth  do  you  sup- 
pose I  could  do  with  a  cat  ?  Why, 
they  are  for  girls ;  who  ever  knew  a 
boy  care  a  pin  for  one  ?" 

Now  Rachel  did  cry,  not  aloud, 
boisterously,  as  Alice  did  when  Tom 
troubled  her,  but  with  great  tears 
rolling  one  after  another  down  her 
cheeks  as  fast  as  they  could.  She 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      227 

made  no  sound,  and  Tom  watched 
her  for  a  moment  in  silence. 

"  What  are  you  crying  for  ?"  he 
said  at  last ;  "  do  you  want  to  get  rid 
of  the  kitten  ?  I  can  drown  her  for 
you  if  you  do." 

Drown  Zaid  !  The  very  enormity 
of  the  proposition  seemed  to  give  Ra- 
chel courage,  and  she  sobbed  out : 

"O  Tom!  Tom!  if  you  would  let 
me  keep  her  I  should  be  so  hap- 

py" 

"  Keep  her  !  of  course  you  may  ; 
what  on  earth  do  you  suppose  a  fel- 
low like  me  wants  to  do  with  a  cat  ?" 

Rachel  felt  as  if  a  great  weight 
had  been  taken  off  her,  for  it  must  be 
confessed  just  now  she  had  forgotten 
Sam  in  her  grief  at  parting  with 
Zaid.  She  made  kitty  scratch  and 
mew  many  times  before  she  stopped 


228  RACHEL;  OR, 

caressing  her,  and  then  she  suddenly 
recollected. 

"  But  will  you  go  for  Sam  ?" 

"Sam!  O  that  is  a  different  thing. 
He  must  learn  to  mind  the  governor, 
or,  you  see,  we  shall  have  nothing  but 
law-breaking  on  the  Island,  and  that 
wont  do.  But,  say,  did  you  come 
way  over  here  and  bring  your  cat  to 
give  me,  all  for  Sam  2" 

"  Yes,"  said  Rachel. 

"  Jolly  !  you  are  a  girl  what  is  a 
girl !  I  like  that  now.  It  shows  real 
grit  in  you." 

"What  is  that?" 

"  O,  don't  you  know  ?  Well,  never 
you  mind,  you  will  find  out  soon 
enough  or  I  lose  my  guess  ;"  and  Tom 
looked  admiringly  at  the  child  as 
she  stood  there  in  the  deepening  twi- 
light. 


THE  CITY   WITHOUT  WALL3.      229 

"  Come,  now,  I  will  tell  you  what 
I  will  do,  because  it's  cute  in  you,  and 
shows  if  you  have  temper  you  can  be 
sony  for  it.  Aunt  Lee  tells  us  often 
that  it  is  the  noblest  thing  in  the 
wrorld  to  say  you  are  sorry  if  you  have 
injured  any  one,  and  I  think  she  is 
right,  because  it's  the  hardest.  Now 
you  have  been  and  gone  and  done  it. 
You  haven't  said  it,  but  you  have 
acted  it,  and  that  is  a  heap  better." 

Each  el  did  not  understand  all  that 
Tom  meant.  She  only  felt  that  he 
was  good-natured,  and  that  perhaps 
she  might  accomplish  her  object  if 
she  would  persist. 

"  You  will  go  for  Sam,  then,"  she 
said  hopefully. 

"  I  don't  know.  Will  you  go  with 
me?" 

"Yes." 


230  EACHEL;  OR, 

"  Come  on,  then." 

The  two  children  went  together 
down  to  a  cove  at  some  distance  from 
that  in  which  the -raft  was  moored, 
and  found  the  old  boat  partly  drawn 
up  on  shore.  She  was  half  full  of 
water. 

"  We  shall  have  to  bail,"  said  the 
tired  boy,  as  he  looked  down  into 
it.  For  the  first  time  since  he  had 
left  the  island  he  wished  he  had 
brought  Sam  with  them. 

"  Is  that  much  work  ?" 

"  Yes,  when  a  fellow  is  as  tired  as 
a  dog,  and  has  only  a  pint  dipper 
to  bail  with ;  but  I  don't  see  any 
help."  So  Tom  picked  up  a  tin  dish, 
which  had  been  previously  used  for 
that  purpose,  and  began  the  task. 
Rachel  watched  him  a  moment  in 
silence,  then  she  said,  "There  is  an 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      231 

old  tin  pan  in  the  wreck.  I  will  run 
for  it,  it  will  hold  more  than  that." 

"That's  cute;  don't  let  the  grass 
grow  under  your  feet." 

Rachel  had  no  need  to  be  told  to 
be  quick  in  this  odd  way.  She  was 
tired  too,  but  she  did  not  think  of 
it,  and  it  seemed,  even  to  impatient 
Tom,  but  a  very  short  time  before  she 
came  running  back  with  two  tin  pans 
in  her  hand.  "That  is  the  kind  of 
girl  I  like,"  he  said  to  himself;  "she 
is  worth  half  a  dozen  like  Alice.  I 
declare  she  is  better  than  Ernest,  and 
I  thought  he  was  pretty  well  up." 

Together  the  boy  and  girl  soon 
cleared  the  water  from  the  boat,  and 
though  the  late  summer  twilight  had 
entirely  gone  before  they  were  ready 
to  start,  still  the  stars  came  out  so 
bright,  and  the  water  looked  so  white 


232  KACHEL;  OR, 

and  pretty,  with  its  little  night-caps  of 
foam,  that  Rachel  felt  no  fear  as  she 
jumped  into  the  boat  and  Tom 
pushed  off. 

She  had  never  before  been  on  the 
water  in  the  evening,  and  now,  hav- 
ing her  heart  relieved  by  the  knowl- 
edge that  Sam  would  soon  be  with 
her,  and  her  conscience  by  the  expia- 
tion which  she  felt  she  had  made  in 
being  willing  to  give  away  her  pre- 
cious cat,  she  felt  really  happy,  and 
quite  enjoyed  the  scene.  The  low 
evening  song  of  the  mighty  ocean 
might  indeed  have  been  pleasant  to 
other  and  older  children.  Then  there 
was  the  clear,  starlit  sky,  the  soft  rock- 
ing motion  of  the  waves,  and  the 
freshness,  the  almost  fragrance  with 
which  the  air  was  filled.  How  sweetly 
the  billows  came  and  went,  never  still. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      233 

never  still.  There  was  something  in 
the  ceaseless  motion  which  alone 
would  have  been  charming  to  a  child. 

Tom  usually  sang  as  he  rowed.  He 
knew  several  pretty  boat  songs ;  but 
to-night  he  was  silent.  In  truth,  he 
was  too  weary  to  care  for  anything 
but  accomplishing  the  object  of  the 
trip  and  then  going  to  bed,  so  he  sat 
silent. 

Zaid  went  to  sleep  in  Rachel's 
arms,  the  best  compliment  she  could 
pay  to  the  evening's  sail. 

When  they  reached  the  island,  Tom 
called  Sam  several  times  in  a  very 
loud  voice,  hoping  the  child  would 
hear  him  and  would  come  down  and 
save  him  the  trouble  of  going  on 
shore ;  but  no  Sam  answered.  Ra- 
chel called  too.  No  reply.  A  little 
alarmed,  Tom  left  the  boat  in 

15 


234  RACHEL;  OR, 

Rachel's  care  and  sprang  on  the 
wharf.  What  if  something  had  hap- 
pened ?  Tom  felt  his  heart  stop  beat- 
ing as  he  asked  himself  this  question. 
All  at  once  the  fondness  which  he 
really  felt  for  his  brother  rushed  over 
him.  He  did  not  think  of  his  faults, 
of  the  many  times  in  which  he  had 
been  annoyed  by  him.  All  that  he 
remembered  was  he  heard  no  answer 
to  his  call,  and  perhaps — but  that 
perhaps  was  too  hard  to  be  en- 
dured, and  Tom  thrust  it  away  from 
him  with  a  great  effort.  So  it  will 
be  with  you,  my  readers.  If  you  are 
ever  unkind  to  your  brothers  or 
sisters  there  will  come  a  time  wher 
you  will  not  wish  to  remember  it, 
but  will  try  to  put  it  away.  Tom 
was  a  very  short  time  going  to  the 
house.  Here  he  thought  most  prob- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      235 

ably  Sam  would  take  refuge,  and 
here  he  found  him  asleep,  curled 
up  on  the  pile  of  cloths  which 
had  served  for  the  partitions,  and 
which  he  had  so  mischievously  torn 
down. 

At  first  Tom  had  a  horrible  fear 
that  he  was  dead,  he  slept  so  soundly, 
and  gave  so  little  heed  to  any  of  his 
attempts  to  rouse  him.  But  at  last 
he  started  with  a  scream  which 
alarmed  Tom  almost  as  much  as  his 
silence.  It  was  some  time  before 
Tom  could  waken  him  to  a  full  sense 
of  where  he  was,  and  that  he  had 
come  to  take  him  home. 

Rachel  sat  in  the  boat  trying  to 
look  through  the  darkness  and  see  if 
they  were  not  coming.  She  heard 
the  scream,  and  seizing  the  oars, 
pushed  the  boat  a  little  way  from 


236  RACHEL;  OR, 

shore,  dropping  Zaid  on  the  bottom 
as  she  did  so ;  but  in  a  moment  she 
heard  Tom's  voice. 

"  Wake  up  old  fellow,  can't  you  ? 
Why  you  reel  about  here  like  a 
drunken  man.  There,  that  is  it. 
Want  to  take  hold  of  my  hand  ?  So 
you  may.  Why,  you  shake  as  if  you 
were  cold.  You  aint  frightened 
now,  with  me  along,  are  you?  and 
here  is  Rachel  and  her  kitten.  Come, 
wake  up ;  we'll  have  you  home  in  a 
jiffy,  see  if  we  don't." 

Tom's  voice  was  very  gentle,  al- 
most tender.  Rachel  had  never 
heard  it  sound  so  before,  and  she 
wondered  as  she  listened. 

"Here  we  are;  row  up,  Rachel; 
what  in  nature  are  you  out  there  for ! 
I  say,  if  that  isn't  gay,  to  think  Sam 
and  I  could  step  down  into  the  water 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.     237 

to  you ;  why  it's  five  miles  deep,  I 
dare  say." 

Rachel  brought  the  boat  quickly 
back,  the  boys  jumped  on  board,  and 
much  more  quickly  than  they  came 
over,  for  the  wind  was  in  their  favor, 
they  made  their  way  to  Nelson's 
Island. 

Tom  told  Sam,  who  had  been  silent 
ever  since  he  was  wakened,  to  go  di- 
rectly home,  while  he  went  round 
with  Rachel,  and  without  waiting  to 
be  spoken  to  a  second  time,  Sam 
disappeared.  His  mother  received 
him  as  if  his  corning  was  a  matter  of 
course.  He  was  often  out  as  late  with 
Tom,  and  always  had  come  back  safe- 
ly,, so  she  never  gave  herself  any 
trouble  about  him.  She  little  knew 
what  a  tempest  of  feeling  the  little 
fellow  had  passed  through  since  she 


238  EACHEL;  OK, 

saw  him  last,  and  it  was  not  until  a 
long  time  after  that  he  summoned 
courage  to  tell  any  one. 

As  Rachel  came  near  home  she 
remembered,  for  the  first  time,  how 
disobedient  she  had  been.  She  had 
been  gone  from  home  nearly  two 
hours,  but  as  Nancy  had  not  yet  re- 
turned, she  had  not  been  missed.  Mrs. 
Tilton  was,  therefore,  very  much  sur- 
prised when  she  opened  the  door  of 
her  room,  and  coming  straight  to  her 
said: 

"Mamma,  I  have  disobeyed  you, 
and  I  am  very  sorry;  I  forgot  all 
about  it,  I  was  so  busy  thinking  of 
Sain." 

"What  have  you  done,  my  dar- 
ling?" said  her  mother,  putting  her 
arm  affectionately  around  her. 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      239 

"I  have  been  with  Torn  over  to 
the  island  since  dark." 

Here  followed  a  long  conversation, 
which,  as  it  would  be  only  a  repeti- 
tion of  what  we  have  already  said,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  detail  to  the  reader. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  Mrs.  Tilton  felt  that 
she  never  loved  Rachel  better  than 
when,  after  a  full  confession  on  her 
part,  she  knelt  down  with  her,  and 
begged  God  to  strengthen  the  walls 
of  her  city,  and  set  sharp  watchmen 
around  upon  it,  that  none  of  these 
harmful,  unbidden  guests  might  en- 
ter. 


240  RACHEL;  OB, 


CHAPTER  X. 

CAPTAIN   LEE'S   RETURN. 

THE  early  summer  sun  waited  a 
long  time  the  next  morning  for  the 
"  shipwrecked  mariners "  to  make 
their  appearance.  The  unusual  fa- 
tigue and  excitement  of  the  day  be- 
fore had  made  them  sound  and  late 
sleepers,  and  when,  at  last,  one  after 
the  other  made  their  appearance 
down  by  the  shore,  they  were  tired, 
sleepy  looking  children,  seeming  not 
to  care  very  much  whether  the  raft 
left  her  moorings  for  all  the  live-long 
day. 

Tom,  too,  had  lost  much  of  his  in- 
terest in  the  new  home ;  it  is  so  true 
that  the  spirit  of  happiness  to  the 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      241 

young  is  in  doing  right.  The  cloud, 
not  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  that  can 
cover  their  whole  heaven,  is  what 
may  seem  at  the  time  the  smallest 
sin.  Tom  was  tired  of  the  authority 
which  brought  him  so  much  trouble 
and  some  repentance.  He  began  to 
think  the  children  too  young  to  play 
with,  and  to  wish  John  was  back 
from  sea,  or  that  some  bigger  children 
would  drop  down  on  the  island.  The 
consequence  was  that  when  the  lag- 
ging mariners  were  all  ready  for  em- 
barkation, Rachel  with  a  larger  bask- 
et than  she  had  brought  before,  and 
every  one  with  hands  full  of  articles 
which  were  to  supply  some  discover- 
ed necessity,  Tom  told  them  he  had 
changed  his  mind,  and  instead  of  go- 
ing to  the  island  he  was  going  down 
to  the  cove  to  fish. 


242  RACHEL;  OR, 

There  was  no  denying  his  right  to 
do  as  he  pleased ;  so,  after  some  con- 
sultation among  themselves,  they  de- 
termined to  spend  the  day  upon  the 
wreck,  picnicing  there,  instead  of  do- 
ing so  at  their  new  home. 

The  day  was  not  more  than  half 
through,  a  very  quiet,  happy  day  it 
was,  in  which  they  all  agreed,  told 
stories,  played  at  housekeeping,  and 
each  one  took  pains  to-  be  obliging 
and  kind  to  the  others,  when  the 
shell  sounded  from  Mrs.  Lee's  house, 
and  Ernest  ran  to  see  what  their 
mother  wanted. 

A  letter  had  just  been  brought 
from  their  father,  in  which  he  wrote, 
that  having  determined  not  to  go  to  the 
port  which  made  the  extreme  length 
of  his  journey,  he  had  already  set 
sail  for  home,  and  might  be  expected 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      243 

in  a  very  few  days  after  the  arrival  of 
the  steamer  which  would  bring  this 
letter.  What  a  time  of  rejoicing  it 
was,  how  quickly  the  children  flew 
from  one  house  to  another,  telling 
the  good  news,  and  how  little  else 
was  talked  of  or  thought  of  that  day, 
those  of  my  readers  who  have  learned 
to  love  Captain  Lee  may  imagine. 

In  their  delight  they  even  forgot 
the  party  which  they  had  intended 
to  get  up  on  the  little  island  for  his 
reception,  and  it  was  not  until  grave- 
ly reminded  of  it  by  Tom  after  his 
return  at  night  from  his  fishing  ex- 
cursion, that  they  began  to  feel  how 
much  remained  to  be  done.  For  sev- 
eral successive  days  they  went  regular- 
ly to  the  island,  worked  with  much 
concord  and  earnestness,  and  when  at 
last  the  white  sails  of  the  ship  rose 


244  RACHEL;  OR, 

above  that  distant  horizon  beneath 
which  they  last  disappeared,  every- 
thing was  in  readiness. 

Tom's  raft  had  been  lying  at  the 
island,  on  the  side  toward  the  harbor, 
waiting  for  this  signal,  and  now,  amid 
a  universal  rejoicing  which  made  it 
rather  unsafe  for  such  young  voyagers, 
it  was  crowded  with  the  children  and 
headed  toward  the  ship.  It  had  not 
gone  far  when  they  saw  the  ship  drop 
anchor,  a  boat  lowered,  and  two  per- 
sons run  down  the  side. 

"There's  father!  there's  uncle! 
there's  John !  Hurrah  !  Now  for  it, 
three  times  three  cheers;"  and  the 
raft  tipped  quite  into  the  water  as 
the  boys  stamped  and  clapped  and 
cheered  at  the  same  time.  Back  from 
the  boat  came  an  answering  call,  and 
very  soon  the  two  crafts  were  along- 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.       245 

side,  and  Alice,  without  much  regard 
to  the  deep  water  which  rolled  be- 
tween them,  sprang  into  her  father's 
arms. 

The  children  must  all  come  on 
board  the  boat ;  the  practiced  eye  of 
the  sea-captain  saw  at  once  that  joy 
and  rafts  were  not  very  safe  compan- 
ions under  children's  guidance ;  so 
Tom  and  John  were  left  to  row  the 
raft  in,  while  the  homeward  bound 
boat,  under  the  long,  steady  pulls  of 
the  captain,  soon  outstripped  it,  and 
came  into  port. 

Our  readers  must  imagine  all  the 
details  of  the  return,  how  happy 
Mrs.  Lee's  home  was  that  night,  and 
how  much  pleasure  it  gave  their  fa- 
ther to  see  the  growth  and  improve- 
ment of  Ernest  and  Alice  during  his 
absence.  Nor  can  we  find  room  in 


246  EACHEL;  OR, 

this  volume,  which  is  already  too 
long,  to  relate  the  particulars  of  the 
party  which  took  place  in  due  time 
upon  the  little  island:  we  will  only 
say  everything  passed  off  to  the  de- 
light of  all  concerned. 

The  great  secret  of  the'  children 
was  revealed  to  those  at  home,  from 
whom  it  had  been  faithfully  and  care- 
fully kept,  and  Nancy  won  from  Tom 
the  praise  of  being  able  to  keep  a 
secret  right  smart  if  she  was  a  wo- 
man. 

Mrs.  Tilton  and  Captain  Lee  were 
old  friends,  and  the  addition  of  the 
little  orphan  Rachel  to  her  family 
met  with  his  warmest  approbation 
and  praise. 

"To  think  of  it,"  said  the  good 
captain,  with  tears  dimming  his  kind 
blue  eyes,  "that  God  should  have 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      247 

sent  us  both  to  the  same  place,  and 
we  should  have  taken  these  dear 
children  to  bring  them  up  as  it  were 
together  on  this  island ;"  and  then,  as 
he  ran  his  eye  over  the  group  of  chil- 
dren, a  sudden  thought  seemed  to 
strike  him. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,"  he  said, 
"  this  shall  be  a  kind  of  branch  Or- 
phan Asylum.  That  nice  Scotch  boy, 
what  do  you  call  him,  Rachel?  the 
light-haired,  blue-eyed  fellow,  with  a 
whole  summer  of  sunshine  hidden 
away  somewhere  within  his  laughing 
face;  the  one  that  put  on  my  hat, 
you  know  ?" 

"  Christie,"  said  both  Rachel  and 
Ernest  together. 

"Yes,  that's  the  one;  well  now, 
children,  I  guess  we  must  manage 
some  way  to  get  him  down  here  too  ; 


248  KACHEL;  OR, 

pretty  nice  that  would  be,  wouldn't 
it?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  both  children  ea- 
gerly. 

u  So  it  would ;  we  will  think  it  over 
and  let  you  know  when  we  decide," 
and  the  captain's  face  had  at  once  the 
look  which  it  always  wore  when  he 
was  thinking  it  over. 

He  held  a  long  consultation  that 
night  with  his  wife  and  Mrs.  Tilton, 
the  result  of  which  we  shall  make 
known  in  our  next  volume,  called 
"  Christie  ;  or,  Where  the  Tree  Fell." 
We  must  now  leave  our  party  of 
children. 

Tom  was  very  much  pleased  to 
have  done  with  the  little  folks,  and 
to  be  able  to  join  in  the  more  manly 
sports  of  his  elder  brother  John. 

Sam  was  still  plotting,  and  still  not 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      249 

to  be  trusted,  getting  himself  and  other 
people  into  trouble,  and  never  learn- 
ing the  great  life-lesson  that  honesty, 
even  in  trifles,  is  by  far  the  best  pol- 
icy, to  say  nothing  of  its  being  the 
only  life  pleasing  to  a  spirit-searching 
God. 

Ernest,  with  no  marked  faults,  and 
a  strong  desire  to  do  right,  was  quick- 
tempered and  impulsive,  and  still  went 
wrong  sometimes  because  he  would 
not  stop  to  think. 

Alice,  selfish  and  sullen  by  fits,  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  remembering  the 
prayer  that  she  might  be  generous, 
loving,  and  loved. 

Little  Eddy  took  the  coloring  of 
whatever  atmosphere  he  was  in,  hap- 
py when  the  others  were  happy,  sor- 
ry when  they  were  sorry,  good  when 
they  were  good,  and  naughty  when 

16 


250  RACHEL;  OR, 

they  were  naughty;  but  we  must  not 
forget  that  Eddy  was  only  a  very 
little  boy,  and  he  would  have  more 
character  as  he  grew  older. 

As  for  Rachel,  what  shall  we  say 
of  the  walls  of  her  city?  Certainly, 
they  were  not  yet  safe  from  all  assaults 
of  the  enemy.  Almost  every  day  of 
her  life  there  were  times  when  they 
shook  to  their  foundations,  times 
when  she  forgot  to  shut  her  gates, 
times  when  the  good  mayor  within 
warned  and  invited  and  plead  with  her 
to  do  so  ;  but  she  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
all  that  was  said.  The  most  difficult 
enemy  still  to  deal  with  was  the  vio- 
lent temper ;  but  Rachel  was  learning 
the  value  of  prayer,  was  learning  that 
the  only  way  to  show  her  earnestness  in 
what  she  asked  was  to  live  up  to  the 
light  that  she  had.  Poor  little  Rachel ! 


THE  CITY  WITHOUT  WALLS.      251 

there  is  a  lesson  in  her  life  for  each 
one  of  you,  my  young  readers. 
Have  you  not  discovered  it?  Are 
there  none  of  you  that  will  be  more 
watchful  to  rule  over  your  own  spirit, 
so  that  your  city  may  not  be  broken 
down  and  without  walls  ? 


THE   END. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last 
date  stamped  below 


10m-ll,'50(2555)470 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGI0^^ 

AA    000475626    8 


PZ6 
A3R15 


